Promoted out of turn but 23 cops may have to wait for nine months

New Delhi: Even as the Delhi Police granted out-of-turn promotions to 68 personnel for their exemplary work (of which 48 are from the Special Cell), for 23 of these personnel, the ad-hoc promotion is not a guarantee, given that they are yet to clear their promotional training courses. These personnel were given a one-time extension to finish these programmes in light of the pandemic.

As per the promotion order, 15 head constables and eight assistant sub-inspectors fall under the "not confirmed" category. Interestingly, 20 of these cops are from the Special Cell, including head constable Deepak Dahiya, who had disarmed riot-accused Shahrukh Pathan during the north-east Delhi riots last year.

According to the order, the pending training courses shall be completed within nine months from the date (June 18) of the issue of this OTP order and the Joint CP (training) will organise the required promotional courses and ensure that all the exempted police personnel complete their required courses within nine months. "Any request from units, individual to postpone the training will invalidate the OTP. Their ad-hoc promotion is also subjected to the receipt of vigilance clearance report," the order read.

Special Cell police personnel sweeping the promotions list is not surprising given the cases they are investigating —most important of which include cases pertaining to the riots last year, the Republic Day violence this year and many others.

According to police, the officers and men of the force are provided basic training followed by in-service training programmes throughout their career to enable them to handle their job in a highly professional manner. The policemen are required to work in a highly dynamic environment dealing with different strata of society. They cannot work with the 'One size fits all philosophy and have to be innovative in their approach to problem-solving as per the requirements on the ground.

One official said a total of 135 police personnel have been promoted out of turn in 2020. Two police personnel have been promoted out of turn for tracing of missing persons. In addition, 4,732 police personnel of all ranks have been promoted since Feb 2020.