CRPF Considers Reintroducing Military Ranks to Ease Promotion Backlog

CRPF Explores Revival of Historic Military Ranks

The Central Reserve Police Force is looking into bringing back the military ranks of lance naik and naik nearly three decades after they were removed. Officials stated that this potential policy shift aims to alleviate severe promotion bottlenecks and help integrate Agniveers retiring from the Army.

To gauge opinions, the crpf headquarters has instructed hundreds of field units across the country to organize stakeholder meetings, known as 'Sainik Sammelans', and gather feedback from personnel within a two-day window.

Background on the Ranks and Current Stagnation

The lance naik and naik designations were phased out of the force back in 1997, when they were combined into standard constable and head constable police tiers following an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, these specific tiers have remained active within the Army.

Under standard hierarchical progression, a newly joined constable typically achieves a lance naik role in five years, moves to naik in a decade, and reaches head constable status by twenty years. Presently, the roughly 3.25 lakh personnel within the crpf face heavy delays, where constables wait an average of 22 to 25 years just for their initial promotion, fueling widespread grievances.

Impact on Morale and Retiring Agniveers

By re-establishing these two intermediate tiers, authorities hope to grant the constabulary extra promotional milestones ahead of the head constable level. Officials believe this adjustment will lift morale and ease ongoing frustrations. Furthermore, the initiative is seen as a way to make service within the crpf more appealing to short-term Agniveer recruits under the Agnipath framework, whose initial cohorts will soon finish their four-year military stints and qualify for Central Armed Police Forces.

At present, Central Armed Police Forces utilize an ad hoc system that applies a non-sanctioned senior constable insignia on uniforms to reflect equivalence to a lance naik, while no structural equivalent exists for the naik position.

Feedback From Associations and Field Officers

Opinions from outside and inside the service vary regarding the implementation. Ranbir Singh, Secretary General of the Ex-Paramilitary Personnel Association, noted that the proposed changes would only benefit personnel if structured around time-bound promotions, warning that the effort might otherwise be ineffective.

Additionally, a senior CRPF commandant emphasized that reinstating these legacy Army tiers must go beyond a superficial adjustment and carefully protect battalion discipline, unit regimentation, and operational capabilities.

Sources: The Hindu, Telegraph India, SSBCrack.