E-Paper
Punjab Police to hire civilian domain experts to deal with complex probes
A FIRST IN COUNTRY: Cabinet okays recruitment of 798 specialists directly as plainclothes civilian staff in Bureau of Investigation as part of department’s restructuring
The Punjab council of ministers on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the state police department to recruit civilian domain experts in the areas of information technology (IT), legal forensics and finance to deal with complex investigations.
A government spokesperson said Punjab will be India’s first state to recruit civilians as domain experts in its police force.
At least 798 specialists will be hired directly as plainclothes support staff in the department’s Bureau of Investigation (BoI) which will get a qualitative edge with the induction of a total of 4,251 personnel across different ranks as part of a restructuring of the police department.
The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh through a video-conference.
This will bring about a qualitative change in the investigation process, especially in the drug cases, the spokesperson claimed.
The BoI will mainly deal with five types of criminal cases of serious nature — homicide and forensic, crimes against women and children, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, special crimes and economic offences and cyber crimes. These constitute around 14-15% of the total crimes committed in the state.
The restructuring will enable the BoI to make direct recruitments of sub-inspectors (SIs), head constables and constables “in a revenue-neutral manner by abolishing 4,849 existing posts” so that there is no additional financial burden on the state exchequer, the spokesperson added.
As per the provisional plan, direct recruitment of 1,481 cops (297 SIs, 811 head constables and 373 constables) will be made.
The recruitment of graduates in law, forensics, commerce and other domains will also give an opportunity to the educated youth of the state in getting jobs, he said.
This will be done after taking out these posts from the purview of the Subordinate Service Selection Board (SSSB). With this, the BoI will be able to fill 100% posts (159) of ministerial staff as and 798 posts of civilian support staff as per the new proposed service rules.
The remaining 1,947 posts of subordinate ranks (inspector to constable) of a total of 4,521 sanctioned for the BoI will initially be filled through the department and thereafter via promotions in the bureau itself.
GOVT TO EXPAND ITS SOCIAL MEDIA OUTREACH
The cabinet also decided to expand the state government’s social media outreach by setting up 15 expert social media teams through outsourcing. An annual budget of ₹7 crore was approved to engage the services of 63 social media professionals and experts, including a media manager, two assistant media managers, 15 digital media executives, 15 video editors, 15 graphic designers and 15 content writers for one year.
The council of ministers also approved the restructuring of the water resources department, giving the nod to fill 70 posts in the Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority (PWRDA) on contract or deputation basis. The restructuring will involve cutting down of sanctioned strength of 24,263 employees to 15,606.
The restructuring plan will help in saving ₹71 crore per annum, said an official spokesperson.
The cabinet also approved Group ‘A’ Service Rules of Punjab commissioners’ offices to include officials drawing grade pay of ₹5,000 and above in Group ‘A’ service.
GOVT TO RECOVER ₹223.75 CR FROM PRIVATE SUGAR MILLS
The cabinet also gave a nod to for recovery of ₹223.75 crore paid to cane growers on behalf of the private sugar mills for the 2015-16 crushing year.
In the 2014-15 year, the sugar mills were facing cash flow problems, delayed start and low sugar rate in the market, leading to delay in payment to cane growers. The state government had to step to make payments to the growers on behalf of the mills.
The decision comes in the wake of the recommendations of a high-powered committee constituted under the chairmanship of the chief secretary in November 2017, in compliance with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The committee, after hearing the representatives of the private sugar mills, observed that Rs 50 per quintal was given as a temporary support to alleviate the distress of farmers.
