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Service Overview
Abbreviation	IPS
Date of Establishment	1905 (As Imperial Police) 1948 (as IPS)[1]
Country	India
Staff College	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, Telangana
Cadre Controlling Authority	Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
Minister Responsible	Rajnath Singh, Minister responsible for Ministry of Home Affairs
Legal personality	Governmental: Government service
Duties	Law Enforcement Crime Investigation Security Intelligence (Internal & External) Public Order
Cadre Strength	3894 members (2016)[2]
Selection	Civil Services Examination
Association	IPS (Central) Association
Head of the Civil Services
Current Cabinet Secretary	Pradeep Kumar Sinha, IAS

The Indian Police Service (Bhāratīya Pulis Sevā) or IPS, is an All India Service for policing.^[3] It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India gained independence from Britain.

Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS), the IPS is one of the three All India Services — its cadre can be employed by both the Union Government and the individual States.

The service is not a force itself but provides leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India Central Armed Police Forces. Its members are the senior officers of the police.^[4] The Bureau of police Research and Development is responsible for research and development of the police force in India.

History

British India

Jamadar, constable and sergeant – NCO positions opened to Indians until 1920

Indian Police Medal issued in 1940

In 1861, the British Government introduced the Indian Councils Act, 1861.^[8] The act created the foundation of a modern and professionalised police bureaucracy in India. It introduced, a new cadre of police, called Superior Police Services, later known as the Indian Imperial Police.^[8] The highest rank in the service was the inspector general^[8] for each province. The rank of inspector general was equated and ranked with brigadier,^[9] and similar ranks in the Indian Armed Forces, as per central warrant of precedence in 1937.^[a][9]

In 1902–03, a police commission was established for the Police reforms under Sir Andrew Fraser and Lord Curzon.^[10] It recommended the appointment of Indians at officer level in the police. Indians could rise only to the ranks of Inspector of police, the senior N.C.O. position. However they were not part of Indian Imperial Police.^[10]

From 1920, Indian Imperial Police was open to Indians and the entrance examination for the service was conducted both in India and England.^[10]

A 1999 stamp dedicated to the 50th anniversary of IPS

Prior to Independence, senior police officers belonging to the Imperial Police (IP) were appointed by the Secretary of State on the basis of a competitive examination. The first open civil service examination for admission to the service was held in England in June 1893 and the ten top candidates were appointed as probationers in the Indian (Imperial) Police. It is not possible to pinpoint an exact date on which the Indian Police came formally into being.
Around 1907, the Secretary of State's officers were directed to wear the letters "IP" on their epaulettes in order to distinguish them from the other officers not recruited by the Secretary of State through examination. In this sense, 1907 could be regarded as the starting point.^[1] In 1948, a year after India gained independence; the Imperial Police was replaced by IPS.

Modern India

The modern Indian Administrative Service was created under the Article 312(2) in part XIV of the Constitution of India.^[11]

In 1972, Kiran Bedi joined the IPS, becoming the first woman police officer.^[12]

As per media reports, there is a massive shortage of IPS officers in India, amounting to nearly 19% to 22% of sanctioned strength.^[13][14]

Medals and decorations

Historically, few officers have been awarded United Nations Medal and have participated in Indian Army United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Objective

The First Police Commission, appointed on 17 August 1865, contained detailed guidelines for the desired system of police in India and defined the police as a governmental department to maintain order, enforce the law, and to prevent and detect crime. The Indian Police Service is not a force itself but a service providing leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India Central Armed Police Forces. Its members are the senior officers of the police. With the passage of time Indian Police Service's objectives were updated and redefined, the current roles and functions of an Indian Police Service Officer are as follows:^[15]

• To fulfil duties based on border responsibilities, in the areas of maintenance of public peace and order, crime prevention, investigation, and detection, collection of intelligence, VIP security, counter-terrorism, border policing, railway policing, tackling smuggling, drug trafficking, economic offences, corruption in public life, disaster management, enforcement of socio-economic legislation, bio-diversity and protection of environmental laws etc.


• Leading and commanding the Indian Intelligence Agencies like Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) etc., Indian Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Civil and Armed Police Forces in all the states and union territories.


• Leading and commanding the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) which include the Central Police Organisations (CPO) such as Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guard (NSG), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Vigilance Organisations and Indian Federal Law Enforcement Agencies.


• To interact and coordinate closely with the members of other All India Services and with the Indian Revenue Service and also with the Indian Armed Forces primarily with the Indian Army.


• To lead and command the force with courage, uprightness, dedication and a strong sense of service to the people.


• Endeavor to inculcate in the police forces under their command such values and norms as would help them serve the people better.


• Inculcate integrity of the highest order, sensitivity to aspirations of people in a fast-changing social and economic milieu, respect for human rights, broad liberal perspective of law and justice and high standard of professionalism.

Selection

IPS officers are recruited from Civil Services Examination. They are also promoted from State Police Services and DANIPS. However, at present, recruitment from Limited Competitive Examination has been put on hold.^[13]

Training

The training of IPS officer recruits is conducted at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad. The authorised cadre strength of Indian Police Service is 4920. (3270 Direct Recruitment Posts and 1650 Promotional Posts).^[16] The Civil List of IPS officers is an updated (annual) list maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India that lists the posting details of all IPS officers in India. This Civil List can be accessed from the MHA website. It allows searching for an IPS officer on the basis of his/her name, Batch or Cadre.^[17]

State Cadres

Cadre Allocation Policy

The Union Government announced a new cadre allocation policy for the All India Services in August 2017, touting it as a policy to ensure national integration of the bureaucracy as officers and ensure All-India character of the services. Under the new policy, the existing 26 cadres have been divided into five zones in the new policy by the Department of Personnel and Training of Government of India.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

Under the new policy, a candidate has to first give his/her choice in the descending order of preference from amongst the various Zones.^[24] Subsequently, the candidate has to indicate one preference of cadre from each preferred zone.^[24] The candidate indicates his second cadre preference for every preferred zone subsequently. The process continues till a preference for all the cadres is indicated by the candidate.^[24] The preference for the zones/cadres remains in the same order and no change is permitted.^[24]

Officers continue to work in the cadre they are allotted or are deputed to the Government of India.^[25]

Old Cadre Allocation Policies

Till 2008 there was no system of preference of state cadre by the candidates; the candidates, if not placed in the insider vacancy of their home states, were allotted to different states in alphabetical order of the roster, beginning with the letters A, H, M, T for that particular year. For example, if in a particular year the roster begins from 'A', which means the first candidate on the roster will go to the Andhra Pradesh state cadre of IPS, the next one to Bihar, and subsequently to Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and so on in alphabetical order.^[26] The next year the roster starts from 'H', for either Haryana or Himachal Pradesh (if it has started from Haryana on the previous occasion when it all started from 'H', then this time it would start from Himachal Pradesh). This highly intricate system, in vogue since the mid-1980s, had ensured that officers from different states are placed all over India.

The system of permanent State cadres has also resulted in wide disparities in the kind of professional exposure for officers, when we compare officers in small and big and also developed and backward states.^[26] Changes of state cadre is permitted on grounds of marriage to an All India Service officer of another state cadre or under other exceptional circumstances. The officer may go to their home state cadre on deputation for a limited period, after which one has to invariably return to the cadre allotted to him or her.^[27]

From 2008 to 2017 IPS officers were allotted to State cadres at the beginning of their service. There was one cadre for each Indian state, except for two joint cadres: Assam–Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh–Goa–Mizoram–Union Territories (AGMUT).^[27] The "insider-outsider ratio" (ratio of officers who were posted in their home states) is maintained as 1:2, with one-third of the direct recruits as 'insiders' from the same state.^[28] The rest were posted as outsiders according to the 'roster' in states other than their home states,^[28] as per their preference.

Career Progression

Pay structure of Indian Police Service

Pay structure of the Indian Police Service^[4][29][30]

Insignia	Grade/level on pay matrix[29][30]	Position in the state government(s)[4]	Other positions or designation in the state government(s) or the Government of India (GOI)[4][31]	Position in Indian order of precedence	Basic salary (monthly)[29][30]
—	Apex scale (pay level 17)	—	Secretary (R), Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat.	23	₹225,000 (US$3,131)
			Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)	25
		Director General of Police (Head of Police Force)	Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), special director in IB, Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Commissioner of Police of Delhi, director general of a Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
	HAG+ Scale (pay level 16)	Director general of police	Special director general in CAPFs, special director in IB, special director in CBI, director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Director General of Bureau of police Research and Development, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau.		₹205,400 (US$2,858)
	HAG scale[32] (pay level 15)	Additional director general of police	Director of National Crime Records Bureau, special commissioner of police in Delhi, commissioner of police (city police commissionerate), additional director general in NIA, additional director in IB, additional director in CBI, additional director general in CAPFs.	—	₹200,000 (US$2,783)
	Senior administrative grade (pay level 14)	Inspector general of police	Joint commissioner of police in Delhi, commissioner of police (city police commissionerate), inspector general in CAPFs, inspector general in NIA, Joint Director in IB, Joint Director in CBI, Joint Director in SVPNPA.	—	₹175,000 (US$2,435)
	Super time scale (DIG/Conservator grade) (pay level 13A)	Deputy inspector general of police	Additional commissioner of police in Delhi, commissioner of police (city police commissionerate), deputy inspector general in CAPFs, deputy inspector general in NIA, Deputy Director in IB, deputy inspector general in CBI, Deputy Director in SVPNPA.	—	₹150,000 (US$2,087)
	Selection grade (pay level 13)	Superintendent of police (selection grade)	Deputy commissioner of police in Delhi.		₹118,500 (US$1,649)
	Junior administrative grade (pay level 12)	Superintendent of police	Deputy commissioner of police in Delhi.		₹78,800 (US$1,096)
	Senior time scale (pay level 11)	Additional superintendent of police	Additional deputy commissioner of police in Delhi.		₹67,700 (US$942)
	Junior time scale (pay level 10)	Assistant superintendent of police	Assistant commissioner of police in Delhi.		₹56,100 (US$781)

Ranks and insignia

Though the standard uniform colour is Khaki.^[33]    

The ranks, posts and designations of IPS officers vary from state to state as law and order is a state matter. But generally the following pattern is observed.

Ranks of IPS officers

^{[34][35][36][37]}

Indian Police Service Officer Rank Insignia ^[38][39][40]

Insignia
Rank	Director of Intelligence Bureau (GOI)¹	Director General of Police²	Additional Director General of Police²	Inspector General of Police	Deputy Inspector General of Police	Superintendent of Police (Selection Grade)	Superintendent of Police	Additional Superintendent of Police	Assistant Superintendent of Police (Probationary Rank: 3 years of service)	Assistant Superintendent of Police (Probationary Rank: 2 years of service)	Assistant Superintendent of Police (Probationary Rank: 1 year of service)
Abbreviation	DIB	DGP	ADGP	IGP	DIG	SP	SP	Addl. SP	ASP	ASP
¹ Although DIB is a 4 star post and not a rank, it's given to the senior most IPS officer in Intelligence Bureau. ² Rank insignia of DGP is similar to Additional DGP. Note: Commissioner of Police is a post is held by different rank officers in different places. For example, it is held by DG rank officer only in Delhi and Mumbai; by Additional DG rank officer in Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Guwahati etc; by IG rank officer in Gurgaon, Ludhiana, Mysore etc; by DIG rank officer in Trivandrum, Kochi etc.

Flags (top photo) & Stars (bottom photo) on official cars of senior IPS officers, as per their rank.

Reforms and major concerns

India's police continue to be governed by an colonial police law passed in 1861. The Indian Constitution makes policing a state subject and therefore the state governments have the responsibility to provide their communities with a police service. However, after independence, most have adopted the 1861 Act without change, while others have passed laws heavily based on the 1861 Act.

Repeated major incidents, (latest of them being 2012 Delhi gang rape) revealed failure of police to uphold the rule of law.^[41][42]

The need for reform of police in India has been long recognised. There has been almost 30 years of debate and discussion by government created committees and commissions on the way forward for police reform, but India remains saddled with an outdated and old-fashioned law, while report after report gathers dust on government bookshelves without implementation. Many committees on police reforms have recommended major reforms in the police system coupled with systematic accountability.^[43][44]

Corruption and fake encounters

Recently, several IPS officers were arrested and jailed^[45][46] in graft and corruption cases^[47][48][49] In recent years, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has dismissed few IPS officers for non performance.^[50]

Some IPS officers have been convicted of fake encounters.^[51][52]

National Police Commission (1977–81)

National Police Commission was the first committee set up by the Indian government to report on policing. The National Police Commission began sitting in 1979, in the context of a post-Emergency India, and produced eight reports, including a Model Police Act, between 1979 and 1981.^[53]

Ribeiro Committee (1998–99)

In 1996, two former senior police officers filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, asking for the Court to direct governments to implement the recommendations of the National Police Commission. The Supreme Court directed the government to set up a committee to review the Commission's recommendations, and thus the Ribeiro Committee was formed. The Committee, under the leadership of J. F. Ribeiro, a former chief of police, sat over 1998 and 1999, and produced two reports.^[53][54]

Padmanabhaiah Committee (2000)

In 2000, the government set up a third committee on police reform, this time under the stewardship of a former union Home Secretary, K. Padmanabhaiah. This Committee released its report in the same year.^[53][55]

Malimath Committee Report (2003)

The Malimath Committee Report submitted in March 2003 has very articulately laid down the foundation of a restructured and reoriented police system.^[56] The Committee in its report observed that the success of the whole process of Criminal Justice Administration depended completely on the proper functioning of the police organisation especially in the investigation stage. Apart from the investigation of offences, the police also have the duty of maintaining law and order.

Soli Sorabjee Committee (2005)

In 2005, the government put together a group to draft a new police Act for India. It was headed by Soli Sorabjee (former Attorney General). The committee submitted a Model Police Act to the union government in late 2006.^[53]

Supreme Court intervention (2006)

In 1996, Prakash Singh (a former chief of Assam Police and Uttar Pradesh Police and subsequently Director General of the Border Security Force) initiated a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, asking the court to investigate measures to reform the police forces across India to ensure the proper rule of law and improve security across India. The Supreme Court studied various reports on police reforms. Finally, in 2006, a bench of Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice C.K. Thakker and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan^[57] ordered the state governments to implement several reforms in police force.^[58]

Several measures were identified as necessary to professionalise the police in India:

• A mid or high ranking police officer must not be transferred more frequently than every two years.


• The state government cannot ask the police force to hire someone, nor can they choose the Director General of the State Police.


• There must be separate departments and staff for investigation and patrolling,^[59] which will include the creation of:
  
  • A State Security Commission, for policies and direction
  
  
  • A Police Establishment Board, which will decide the selection, promotions and transfers of police officers and other staff
  
  
  • A Police Complaints Authority, to inquire into allegations of police misconduct.
  
  

Follow-up from Supreme Court

In 2006, due to a lack of action by all the state governments,^[60] the Supreme Court ordered the state governments to report to it why the reform measures outlined were not implemented.^[61] After being questioned in front of the judges of the Supreme Court, the state governments are finally starting to reform the police forces and give them the operational independence they need for fearless and proper law enforcement. Tamil Nadu Police has been in the forefront of application of the new referendum.^[62]

Again, in October 2012, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Surinder Singh Nijjar and Jasti Chelameswar asked all state governments and Union territories to inform about compliance of its September 2006 judgement. The order was passed when Prakash Singh through his lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that many of the reforms (ordered by the Supreme Court) have yet not been implemented by many state governments.^[63]

See also

• National Police Memorial India


• Indian State Police Services


• Law enforcement in India


• Encounter killings by police


• Civil Services of India


• All India Service


• Special Duty Allowance (SDA)


• Union Public Service Commission

Notes

References

Further reading

• 
  History of services of Indian police service, as on 1 July 1966, by Ministry of Home Affairs, India. Published by Govt. of India, 1969.


• 
  The peace keepers: Indian Police Service (IPS), by S. R. Arun, IPS, DGP Uttar Pradesh. Published by Berghahn Books, 2000.
  ISBN 978-81-7049-107-1.


• 
  The Indian Police Journal (IPJ), by Bureau of police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs. Published by Govt. of India, October–December 2009 Vol.LVI-No.4.
  ISSN 0537-2429.


• 
  History of services of Indian police service, as on 1 July 1966, by Ministry of Home Affairs, India. Published by Govt. of India, 1969.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Indian Police Service.

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy


• 
  "Shortage of IPS officers". Press Information Bureau. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016.