CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: New Director General of Police Sunil Bansal may have inherited a constabulary simmering in discontent, thanks to a series of flip-flops by the previous police top administration which decided to repatriate the force’s bottom-ranked personnel – those transferred years ago – back to their parent districts.
An about-turn has not calmed their nerves. An order in August to determine the parent district of constables was followed by another in which all the SPs and DCPs were asked to review the cases and repatriate the constables and havildars back to their parent districts. What followed was a huge outcry from the constables. Many went to the court seeking justice.
The state police had to modify its order by placing a 1999 cut-off date in November but with little relief to the constables many of whom were transferred on humanitarian grounds. Another clarification followed on December 30. All this happened when Abhay was at the helm.
On August 16 last year, the state police headquarters issued an order to all SPs and Commissionerate Police to determine the parent cadre of constables. As per Rule 3 of Odisha Police Service (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Constables) Order 2010, the districts where the constables are initially appointed become their parent district where they are entitled to be posted till they remain in the same rank. The same applies to sepoys and constables of armed police. Promotions are permitted in parent cadre only, though in 2013 some constables were allowed change of cadre to districts of their choice.
The order stipulated repatriation of all constables before or after 2013 with immediate effect. It also stated that DIGs/IGs and CP have no power to order inter-district transfer or deputation of constables. A second order on the same date said promotions outside parent districts be reverted too.
Later an October 10 order again said all transfers of constables be treated as deputation for three years and sought repatriation of all beyond the stated period. All this was done apparently in view of growing vacancies in districts caused by indiscriminate transfers by CP, IGs and DIGs.
Constables who had taken transfers on various grounds over the last few decades suddenly found themselves in an unenviable situation of being repatriated back to parent districts after years and in some cases decades.
Sources said, the rising resentment in the rank reached the state government, and the state police headquarters on November 2 found a 1999 order of Home department. Based on that, it issued a fresh order mandating that constables transferred before January 1, 1999, will be treated as belonging to the districts where they were currently posted. This meant large-scale repatriation for those transferred after 1999.
On December 30, two separate orders giving some relief to those promoted to havildar and CI havildar posts out of cadre were issued. Curiously, those transferred to certain police establishments remain intact, again fuelling resentment among the constables.