Let younger BSF officers take charge: Delhi HC
The High Court observed there is an extreme level of frustration among members of the BSF.
At a time of frequent cross-border exchange of fire and stress on younger officers leading the charge, the average age of an officer commanding a BSF battalion on the India-Pak border is close to 50 years. Taking a serious view of this, the Delhi High Court has asked the government to create more posts at senior levels in the force so that timely promotions can take place and younger officers take charge of battalions.
The court has asked the government to carry out a cadre review (that will facilitate creation of new posts) through a committee in the next six months.
The order not only augurs well for the security of the borders but has also come as a big relief to BSF where career stagnation has led to a high rate of attrition. While laid down rules say a cadre review must be carried out every five years, it has not been done in BSF for the past 25 years.
The court order, passed in response to writ petitions filed by BSF officers on Wednesday, said, "Since the respondents (government) have not denied their responsibility to carry out a cadre review in BSF, we dispose of the two writ petitions directing that the cadre review exercise should be completed within the next six months, because time is running out and the issues raised in various writ petitions before us concerning BSF show an extreme level of frustration in the enrolled and appointed members of the force, which is not good for the security of the country."
The petitions have highlighted that no cadre review has led to one officer leading a BSF battalion of over 1200 men while the same figure for Army is just 800. Average age of a commandant in BSF is 49.2 years, while the same in Army (of a colonel) is 41.
It has also highlighted that "whereas percentage of higher administrative grade and above posts in BSF is a meagre 0.05% of the total strength of the organization, in some state civil cadres it ranges between 15.84% to 24.32%."
"We further direct that while carrying out the cadre review, the salient features of the requirement of the force as is brought out by the writ petitioners, which finds a reflection in our present decision, would be duly considered by the committee appointed and the two writ petitions would be treated as a representation to the said committee," the order said.
At a time of frequent cross-border exchange of fire and stress on younger officers leading the charge, the average age of an officer commanding a BSF battalion on the India-Pak border is close to 50 years. Taking a serious view of this, the Delhi High Court has asked the government to create more posts at senior levels in the force so that timely promotions can take place and younger officers take charge of battalions.
The court has asked the government to carry out a cadre review (that will facilitate creation of new posts) through a committee in the next six months.
The order not only augurs well for the security of the borders but has also come as a big relief to BSF where career stagnation has led to a high rate of attrition. While laid down rules say a cadre review must be carried out every five years, it has not been done in BSF for the past 25 years.
The court order, passed in response to writ petitions filed by BSF officers on Wednesday, said, "Since the respondents (government) have not denied their responsibility to carry out a cadre review in BSF, we dispose of the two writ petitions directing that the cadre review exercise should be completed within the next six months, because time is running out and the issues raised in various writ petitions before us concerning BSF show an extreme level of frustration in the enrolled and appointed members of the force, which is not good for the security of the country."
The petitions have highlighted that no cadre review has led to one officer leading a BSF battalion of over 1200 men while the same figure for Army is just 800. Average age of a commandant in BSF is 49.2 years, while the same in Army (of a colonel) is 41.
It has also highlighted that "whereas percentage of higher administrative grade and above posts in BSF is a meagre 0.05% of the total strength of the organization, in some state civil cadres it ranges between 15.84% to 24.32%."
"We further direct that while carrying out the cadre review, the salient features of the requirement of the force as is brought out by the writ petitioners, which finds a reflection in our present decision, would be duly considered by the committee appointed and the two writ petitions would be treated as a representation to the said committee," the order said.
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