Govt to appoint Hanaman successor after March
SHILLONG: The State Security Commission (SSC) has shortlisted the names of five senior IPS officers to take over the post of Director General of Police (DGP), Meghalaya after the retirement of present DGP, PJP Hanaman this month. .
The SSC which met here on Wednesday deliberated on the five names for the top post.
The five shortlisted names from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre are DK Pathak (1979 batch), Rajendra Kumar (1980), Ramesh Tayal (1980), Rajiv Mehta (1981) and SK Jain (1984).
The meeting, which was chaired by the Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, was attended by the state Chief Secretary, PBO Warjri, Hanaman and two independent members — former Meghalaya DGP DNS Srivastava and H. Thangkhiew senior advocate. Leader of the Opposition Donkupar Roy was not present at the meeting.
According to the Chief Minister, the Committee will sit once again by end of February-March to take a final call on the appointment of the new DGP in the state
It may be mentioned that the incumbent DGP Hanaman is retiring on December 31.
The Chief Minister said that the five names have been short listed as per the Police Act which says that a person eligible for the post of DGP should have a minimum 1 year of service left and all the short- listed officers have service tenure of just one year.
These officers are presently holding different positions of the rank of Director General in the different departments across the country.
Pathak is the Director General, BSF, Rajendra Kumar – Director General, Home Guards, Assam, Ramesh Tayal – ADG SSB New Delhi, Rajiv Mehta – Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau, New Delhi, and SK Jain is Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Special Branch, Meghalaya.
Besides Hanaman, other senior IPS of the state who will be retiring from their service include the current Director General, Home Guards & Civil Defence, Kulbir Krishan who will be superannuating on January 31, 2015 followed by Additional Director General (ADG) Prem Singh who retires by April 30, 2015. Krishan who belongs to 1976 batch is presently the senior most IPS officer in the country.
The meeting also discussed the overall law and order scenario of the State.
Meanwhile the CM’s statement that the next meeting for taking a final call on appointment of DGP will be in Feb-March next year, has created ripples in the Police Department. Senior officers wonder why the Chief Minister should delay the appointment of DGP when Hanaman is retiring this month.
“Why should we have a stop-gap DGP for two-three months before the final appointment when the State has to deal with militancy in Garo Hills and the police are taking a beating there? What is the Chief Minister’s game plan?” a senior officer queried.