Govt largesse proves costly for ACB

HYDERABAD: The government’s move to offer incentives and out-of-turn promotions to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) personnel has stirred up a hornet’s nest with the police department reluctant to depute staff to fill manpower crunch in the bureau.
The government’s move appears to have piqued top officials of the police department, which provides staff to the ACB on deputation, sources said.
About 25 posts of investigating officers are vacant in the bureau at any given point of time. The sanctioned strength of the ACB is 22 deputy superintendents of police and 70 inspectors. However, 10 DSP and 14 inspector posts are lying vacant as on date, the sources added.
As the bureau has been stressing on quality in investigations, it is in need of additional manpower. However, the staff crunch has affected the performance this year, the source said.
By September-end, the bureau had registered 163 cases while the number during the corresponding period last year was 264, the sources added.
To overcome manpower crunch and to encourage police officers to join the ACB, the state government had announced 30 per cent of the official’s salary as incentive and out of seniority promotion to those joining the bureau.
This means an inspector joining the bureau would be automatically promoted as DSP till he works with the bureau and a sub-inspector will be promoted as an inspector.
However, some top officers objected and didn’t implement the government orders citing legal complications. They also did not allow the bureau to choose its men.
Instead, they posted some reluctant officers to the bureau, the sources told The Times of India.