Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Non filling-up of 50 per cent vacancies in the ranks of officers of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Maharashtra is taking its toll on policing. The post of ACP is crucial in the hierarchy of the police department and is the first step at supervisory level of ground force. The vacancies figure has bloated due to delay in finalising promotions in State Police Service (SPS) ranks. At Nagpur Police Commissionerate alone eight post of ACP from the sanctioned strength of 23 are lying vacant.
In Maharashtra, about 359 ACP posts are of the sanctioned 800 are lying vacant since last one year. The administrative delays and lack of political will in sticking to schedule of career progress in SPS cadre has created this situation. The absence of ACP directly affects vigilance and maintenance of law and order problem.
Sources informed that along with Nagpur, 43 posts in Mumbai Commissionerate, eight in Thane, six in Nasik, three in Aurangabad have not been filled so far.
A senior police official informed The Hitavada that promotion files of many Police Inspectors has not been cleared for many years, and many of them retire at Inspector level only. This bureaucratic delay has affected promotions of many officers and also created shortage of officers in the force. Large number of promoted ACPs and DySPs also getting retired after putting in just three to four years of their services as the promotion gets delayed. The problem also arise due to poor Annual Confidential Records (ACRs) of the officers, pending court cases and last but not the least lack of interest of Senior Police Inspectors of Mumbai region moving-up the ladder.
Another officer informed that ACPs/DySP are important rank official who have magisterial powers in Commissionerate and District area. They not only supervise the work of police stations but also guide the police station officers during investigations. They meet common man and pass the order of preventive actions against local goons. Most important, ACP rank official is the Investigation Officer in Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) cases, which off late are being vigorously pursued to control the organised gangs.
When asked about the vacancies, Director General of Police (DGP) Pravin Dixit said that the process of promotion is going on and the vacancies will be filled-up shortly.
Maharashtra police establishment has sanctioned strength of 302 IPS officers, 282 SPs and DySPs, 800 ACPs, 3,522 Police Inspectors (PIs), 3,123 Assistant Police Inspectors (APIs), 6,230 Police Sub-Inspectors (PSIs) and constabulary of 1.8 lakh.
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