Hoppers on the job: RTI reveals frequent transfer of IPS officers in UP
24 May, 2013An application was filed with the department of home affairs of Uttar Pradesh under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to know the average duration, an Indian police Service (IPS) officer, serves in a posting in the state.
The reply from the home department states that a total of 44 high level police officers have been transferred for more than 40 times in their whole career in the state. It includes an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) who was transferred 59 times in his career.
Out of the 44 officers, there are two Director General of Police (DGPs), 14 Additional Director General of Police (ADGPs), 13 Inspectors General of Police (IGPs), 10 Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) and four Superintendents of Police (SPs). The data provided in the reply shows that the average number of times the DGPs have been shifted comes at 36.4 while the corresponding figures for ADGPs, IGPs and DIGs are 35.9, 31.8 and 29.7 respectively indicating that most of the officers were at least once in a year.
The applicant stated that such frequent transfers of IPS officers are in violation of a Supreme Court order which held that the minimum tenure of police officers shall be two years. It is worth noting that such frequent transfers make a mockery of the stability of tenure and affects the family life of the officers adversely. The cost of transfers in administrative manner needs to be calculated to put a curb on the tendency to transfer an officer at the drop of the hat.