Submit report to fix retirement anomaly: MHA to CAPFs

The Union Home Ministry has sought a detailed report from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) or paramilitary to fix the anomaly in the retirement age of their personnel in the wake of a Delhi High Court order asking the government to implement equal superannuation age criteria in each force, an official said on Friday.

Director Generals (DGs) of all the paramilitary forces have been asked to submit the report by next week, with detailed information on whether the retirement age of their troopers should be 60 or 57 years.

The direction came at a Home Ministry meeting on February 27 after the Delhi High Court on January 31 questioned the current policy of different ages of superannuation in the paramilitary forces, calling it "discriminatory and unconstitutional".

The High Court has asked the Home Ministry to implement its order in four weeks.

The present retirement age for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is 57. However, the superannuation age in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Assam Rifles (AR) is 60 years.

The meeting, chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and attended by DGs of all the paramilitary forces and other Home Ministry officers, discussed the implications of increasing the retirement age limit of CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB personnel to 60 years as they are deployed in combat duties unlike CISF and AR personnel.

The Ministry also sought a clarification from the paramilitary DGs regarding the impact of the proposed decision on "future" recruitments, age profile of personnel deployed for border guarding tasks and deputation of these men and women to special forces like the National Security Guard (NSG), Special Protection Group (SPG) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

The Ministry also asked them to analyse the "incremental increase" in manpower once the retirement age is enhanced and whether there would be any long-term effect with regard to raising of new battalions in case of change in retirement age.

The CRPF, the BSF, the ITBP and the SSB are deployed in a variety of security roles ranging from guarding borders to conducting anti-Maoist operations and combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

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