UPSC to conduct special exams for IPS

The UPSC will soon be holding special examinations for young officers in Central Police Organisations (CPOs), Central Paramilitary Forces (CPFs) and state police forces to induct them into the elite Indian Police Service (IPS). The Union home ministry, which was working on a proposal to plug the acute shortfall of IPS officers in the country, has firmed up its scheme and is holding consultations with the UPSC to implement the move.
Two attempts to crack the IPS examination will be given to officers recruited as deputy superintendents of police in the states and as assistant commandants in the five CPOs, according to the scheme. Such examinations will be held once a year for at least seven years with the aim of getting nearly 70 IPS officers each year. The officers who make it will be kept on probation for one year. Their service in the CPOs or state police forces will be terminated only when they are confirmed in the IPS.
The eligibility criteria to sit for the examination demands that the police officer should not be more than 35 years of age and should have at least five years of continuous service experience. “Since it will be a competitive examination, the selection will be according to merit. The fixing of seniority and year of allotment to the IPS will be based on their experience,” a government official said. The CPOs and CPFs covered under the scheme are the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and the SSB.
Aiming to start the “limited competitive examination” next year, the government has got down to finalising the examination syllabus and nature of training for the officers taken into the IPS. An expert committee comprising officials of the National Police Academy, Bureau of Police Research and Development, police officers working in state forces, Central paramilitary forces and experts will look into the issue of training.The Kamal Kumar Committee, tasked to draw up an IPS recruitment plan (2009-2020), has suggested a three- to six-month training course for all such officers inducted into the IPS under the scheme. The committee also suggested that the syllabus for the exam centre around conceptual and practical aspects of policing and internal security. The committee said an added advantage of the scheme is that it would open a fast-track channel for bright officers in the state police forces, CPFs and CPOs to get into the IPS.