Take proactive steps to fill up vacancies in CBI: Par panel to govt

The CBI must ensure adequate staff to deal with the rising burden of investigations and proactive steps need to be taken to fill up existing vacancies in a time-bound manner, a parliamentary panel has said.
As per official data, out of 7,274 posts in the CBI, 1,594 are vacant.
"The Committee is of the view that the CBI must ensure adequate staffing in order to deal with the rising burden of investigations.
"The process for recruitment of manpower on deputation should be initiated well in advance before vacancies arise so that the gap between occurrence of vacancies and their filling is reduced to the minimum possible," Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said in its recent report.

The panel had earlier expressed concern over the state of affairs relating to the vacancy position in the CBI.
"The Committee is apprehensive that unless the present malady of massive vacancy is not corrected immediately, the very purpose of establishment of the CBI would be eroded and its credibility tarnished.

"At this juncture when the nation envisages the premier investigating agency of the country to be at par with their international counterparts, performance and result-oriented and equipped to combat the challenges of international pressures of transnational terrorism, cyber-crimes and corruption, the Committee is disheartened that the CBI is crippled with a very basic requirement, shortage of manpower," it had said.

In its reply to the Committee, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which acts as the nodal authority for the agency, said due to the deputationist character of the CBI, there will always be certain vacancies due to the cyclical nature of officers coming and going on deputation and active cases seeking new officers on deputation are always under process.
The DoPT said a number of posts at senior level have been filled up on the recommendations of CBI selection committee headed by the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
To this, the Committee said it is constrained to note that the information given by the DoPT does not categorically explain the actual status of vacancies.

"The Committee desires to be apprised with the actual status of vacancies. The Committee accordingly advises that proactive steps must be undertaken to fill up the existing vacancies in a time-bound manner," the panel said in the report tabled in Parliament yesterday.