Why promotion delay has BSF ranks upset

The Border Security Force (BSF) turns 50 on December 1 this year. Along with the celebratory mood in the world’s largest border guarding force, there is also considerable resentment within the ranks. 

Much of it has to do with the lack of promotional avenues and the resultant stagnation in this Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). It takes close to 22 years for a Constable in the General Duty (GD) Cadre of BSF to be promoted as a Head Constable, when it should be done after eight years of service. The BSF estimates that 10 years hence, this would increase to 25 years. 

 The GD, the fighting arm of the BSF, has the highest number of  officers and men. Before retiring last year, Director General Subhash Joshi admitted that the BSF Constables’ promotion — the maximum age limit to join is 23 years — was being delayed in comparison to other CAPFs like the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force and Sashastra Seema Bal. A proposal was sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs last year and returned. 

Besides junior ranks, even the Assistant Commandant, the lowest-ranking BSF officer, becomes a Deputy Commandant after six to eight years, when he should be promoted after five; a Deputy Commandant becomes a 2IC (second in command) after another 10 to 16 years when he should be promoted within five. A 2IC becomes a Commandant after six to 10 years, when it should be done after five years. The same time is taken for a Commandant to be promoted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) instead of two years.

As on September 30 last year, 111 DIGs and 191 IGs were waiting to be promoted. 

“Constables constitute 90 per cent of the force and if they are unhappy, something needs to be done. It has also taken almost 20 years of the 1995 batch of BSF officers to come close to the rank of Commandant from being Assistant Commandants. And they are not yet Commandants. This problem needs to be curtailed as it affects the morale and motivation of the force,” says former BSF Director General ML Kumawat. 

JS Bhalla, who retired as DIG (Operations) in 2009, says there is an acute stagnation in almost every rank, including the ministerial staff. 

Wait does not end

Most BSF Commandants have completed 20 to 24 years of service. Several are aged between 45 and 50 years. Similarly, most  2ICs are aged between 40 and 45 years. Several Deputy Commandants and Assistant Commandants too are in the same age group.

Officers of these ranks are the backbone of the basic field units and need a young profile. In the Army, an officer becomes a Commanding Officer (CO) of an infantry unit after 15 years of service, which makes him about 37 years old. The idea behind posting young COs is to enable them to participate physically with troops in exercises and operations. But a BSF officer becomes Commandant of a unit after 20 years of service.

“The BSF has raised 15 to 20 battalions in the past five years and is still raising new ones. The new battalions give new promotions at the level of Assistant Commandant, Deputy Commandant and 2IC. Besides, the attrition rate is high. So where is the stagnation? I am surprised that the BSF still stagnates even though it has raised so many battalions,” says Former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai.

Insiders clarify that raising battalions only takes care of the problem in lower ranks. “This has to be in sync with promotions to senior ranks. Only then will there be upward mobility.” BSF officers and men in other ranks are promoted on the basis of vacancies. As all BSF personnel up to the rank of Commandant retire at the age of 57 and those senior at 60 even if rejected by the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC), others in line have to wait their turn till vacancies arise. Stagnation also occurs because of absence of lateral avenues, such as deputation to other organisations.

“Earlier, batches had over 200 officers each, and as promotion is vacancy-based, some will become Commandants while some Deputy Commandants. So there is no growth for years, which reflects bad planning,” says MS Malhi, a former IG. 

However, independent security experts don’t think the picture is that dismal for cadre officers, who are well paid and reach the rank of Additional DG. Constables have it tough and the answer is to improve basic facilities in tough border areas, they say.

IPS officers’ deputation row

• The recrutiment rules are a sore point with BSF cadre officers. According to these, deputationaists from the Indian Police Service (IPS) corner many top posts. “Someone who has not commanded a sector or a battalion becomes the DG. He does not know how operations are conducted, so how can he give directions and policies?” — Questions former DIG (Operations) JS Bhalla.
• It is argued that since IPS officers come to serve for two to three years, they lack the expertise and are not aware of the ethos and culture. “There is thus a deficiency of regimentation. BSF has an equipment profile which is very akin to the Army. The equipment needs to be handled physically to understand the dynamics involved in its deployment and use. Even though IPS officers come to the BSF in senior ranks which involves basically an advisory role, these aspects are very important,” says a BSF officer.

No financial upgradation too

• To cater to the stagnation in promotion, the Sixth Pay Commission recommended Non Functional Upgradation (NFU), a financial scheme, for Organised Group A Officers (OGAS). Based on this, NFU was granted to OGAS officers in 2009.
• According to the MHA, all CAPFs, including the BSF GD Cadre, are not OGAS and therefore ineligible for NFU. “There are some cadres that don’t meet the criteria for being an organised cadre, but are still being given NFU. These include the Indian Trade Service, Indian Legal Service and several railway services,” says a retired officer.
• It is felt that if the BSF is designated as an OGAS, deputation from IPS would stop and vacancies would get filled by BSF officers on promotion.
• The Government claims IPS officers in senior CAPF ranks play a key role in the security architecture. There are 162 posts of IPS officers in the five CAPFs, which is less than 1.5 pc of total strength.

The way forward

When the Border Security Force was raised in 1965, there were 25 battalions; today, there are 183. By 2013, the strength of the force was close to 2.5 lakh. In 2013-14, 5,500 more personnel were recruited. Therefore, in the absence of a cadre review for all categories to create avenues for upward mobility, disgruntlement and frustration are bound to creep in.

BSF is yet to be declared an Organised Group A Services (OGAS), which has cadre reviews every five years. BSF’s cadre review has not been done since 1989. The government says in such a condition, only “restructuring” can be done. This was done in 2003 and two years ago, BSF was asked to send a proposal for a cadre review.  

MS Malhi, who retired as IG (Training), claims that over the last one year, the proposal has been shuttling between the BSF headquarters, the MHA and the DoP&T, but nothing has been done.

A second committee was constituted last year. “Its cadre review proposal was sent to the MHA in December-end in a more diluted form. Some BSF cadre officers got wind of it and shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, complaining about the ‘injustice’ by the IPS lobby. The MHA directed the DG to send it again with the first committee’s proposal. But this is yet to be sent to the MHA,” sources said.

BSF Director General Pathak could not be contacted despite repeated attempts while authorities in MHA and DoP&T were unavailable. Interestingly, IG (Personnel) Ajay Kumar Tomar, when asked about the promotional stagnation in the force, replied, “There is no such thing.”

Rotational appointment: BSF officers feel that making the DG a rotational appointment between IPS and BSF cadre officers would boost motivational levels, besides better sharing of vacancies. 

Reducing flab at top: They are all for a promotion procedure with a fixed number of Departmental Promotion Committee chances, and a laid-down retirement age for each rank. “In the Army, if an individual does not clear the DPC, he retires at a laid-down age limit. This ensures there is no flab being carried till the top that would be at the cost of good junior officers being wasted due to lack of vacancies,” says former Home Secretary GK Pillai. 

Relook at induction policy: BSF officers feel if battalions are being raised, there has to be a corresponding increase in higher ranks to avoid stagnation. A similar problem has been visualised by the Army. Post-Kargil war, the batches commissioned immediately thereafter were far beyond the usual strength. The Army is already looking at how to tackle this when the batches come up for screening in their first promotion board. 

SSC: As a long-term measure, the BSF could emulate the Army’s Short Service Commission.