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Out-of-turn promotions Law & order

As a token of appreciation and reward for professionalism and courage shown by policemen, the Delhi police have a scheme of giving them out-of-turn promotions. It is learnt that there is a move now to take a fresh look at various aspects of the rule.

Senior police officers were recently invited to discuss the nuances of the policy while considering pending cases. As per existing rules, the number of out-of-turn promotions must not exceed 5 per cent of the vacancies in any given year. Although the basic premise on which the rule stands cannot be tampered with, the latest move suggests a willingness on the part of the authorities to make the system of such promotions more effective.

In an internal communiqué, senior police officers were called to dissect the rules that govern out-of-turn promotions. One of the issues to be taken up was whether the availability of such posts should be calculated on the basis of sanctioned strength or existing strength. Another issue was the appropriate time for giving out-of-turn promotions besides cases of long-overdue promotions.

An important issue was whether one out-of-turn promotion during a service-period was enough except in the rarest of rare cases. Also, whether it should be given for really extraordinary work as different from their performance in the normal course of duty.

Though senior police officers are yet to discuss these issues, the lower rung personnel are quite curious about the proposal for just one out-of-turn promotion during the service period except in the “rarest of rare cases”.

“In case there is a problem in clearing all the pending cases in one go, there can be an arrangement to first acknowledge the candidature of deserving personnel and then award them promotions as and when requisite posts are available. This way the personnel would at least be satisfied to know that their work has been recognised and that they will eventually be rewarded,” suggested a police officer.

There is also a school of thought that there is a greater scope for personnel posted with special units to put in exemplary performances and hence become eligible for out-of-turn promotions. As people involved in jobs like computer operation, office management and security arrangements seldom have the opportunity to display such “professionalism and valour”, this leaves them with little chance for staking claim on out-of-turn promotions.

In this regard, the authorities can consider cases of personnel who have excelled in their respective areas.

A large number of personnel are now eagerly awaiting the outcome of the discussion that may have major ramifications on their future prospects. They hope that the cloud surrounding the matter gets cleared at the earliest and eventually the rewards become commensurate to the quality of performance, something that is a primary requisite of a professional set-up.

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