Dilli Ka Babu: IPs-capf tussle on MHA adviser’s exit

It’s not the heaven-born alone who feel their turf is being trodden upon in the Modi sarkar. The IPS officers too are losing their “superior” sheen.

The recent unexplained removal of adviser to the ministry of home affairs, R.K. Mishra, within days of receiving an extension, seems to be part of this situation.

The ministry’s order curtailing his service may have something to do with the long, ongoing tussle between the IPS officers and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) cadre over better pay for the latter.

Mr Mishra was an officer of the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) and was a joint secretary in the ministry before his retirement and subsequent re-appointment as adviser. He was handling the division in the ministry that looks after the affairs of the paramilitary forces.

According to sources, CAPF officers had been accusing him of allegedly favouring the IPS officers in service-related matters.

His removal is being seen as a sign that the ministry is now sympathetic to the CAPF cadre officers’ cause.

As a further fillip to the CAPF cadre officers, the department of personnel and training has directed the home ministry to grant better pay benefits to the CAPF, in accordance with the enhanced status given to them by the Supreme Court. This will put the officers of CAPF on par with their counterparts in the IAS, IPS and other A category services.

The home ministry has reportedly issued an order to director-generals (DGs) of the forces and asked them to not only form internal committees for grant of non-functional selection grade (NFSG) to CAPF officers but to also frame new recruitment rules.

Mr Mishra’s removal notwithstanding, the ongoing rivalry between the IPS and the CAPF officers is far from over. Watch this space for updates.

Succession buzz at MEA
Though foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale still has five months to go before the end of his tenure, babu corridors are already abuzz with talk about his possible successor.

Usually, this would be a routine, with the senior-most diplomat getting the top post.

But of late there has been no predictable pattern or convention when governments choose a foreign secretary, a case in point being current Union foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who was India’s envoy to the US when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ejected the then foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and brought him in.

At present, the punters are betting on Syed Akbaruddin, India’s permanent representative at the United Nations, replacing Mr Gokhale.

If that happens, it would mean that he would have stepped over several batches of IFS officers, including Ruchi Ghanashyam, currently our high commissioner in London, who is also the senior-most and has a natural claim to the post.

The other name in the succession tussle is that of Harshvardhan Shringla, the current ambassador to the US. Mr Akbaruddin is junior to both.

The foreign secretary’s selection is done by the Prime Minister, often in consultation with the ministry of external affairs.

But since Mr Modi has often done “out-of-the-box” thinking in babu appointments, it remains to be seen whether this time the government goes by “convention” or chooses to spring a surprise.