The Union Public Service Commission will hold “special’’ examinations this year in May along with the peliminary examinations to recruit existing government servants into the elite Indian Police Service.
Till now, IPS officers have been recruited solely through the annual Civil Services Examination conducted by the UPSC. On May 20, the UPSC will also hold a “limited competitive’’ examination for young officers belonging to Central paramilitary and state police forces exclusively into the IPS. The special examinations termed as the limited competitive examination for IPS was proposed by the Union home ministry and cleared by the Prime Ministers Office with the sole aim of filling up the acute shortage of IPS officers in the country. The special examinations, however, will be conducted by the UPSC for a period of two years for now.
Notably, the first “emergency’’ recruitment drive in the IPS was held in the country soon after Independence when there was a dire need for the creation of a strong police force. This newspaper had first reported that the examination would be open to assistant commandants with atleast five years experience in the five major Central Police and Parami-litary Organisations-CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB , CISF and deputy superintendents of police in the states who have not crossed 35 years of age. There would be further relaxation of norms for the reserved category. The examination will also be open to captains and maj-ors serving in the Army. The IPS lobby wasn’t happy with the proposal fearing a dilution of the “elite’’ force. The UPSC too feared a “parallel’’ induction may adversely affect the existing structure but the MHA has addressed their concerns paving the way for rolling out the recruitment drive from this year.