The Union government has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to investigate recent recruitment of special police officers, popularly known as SPOs, owing to concerns over transparency.
SPOs are used for a variety of tasks ranging from maintaining law and order and providing security for politicians and protected persons to fighting militancy.
In particular, the Centre raised objections to the recruitment of 3,000 SPOs after mass protests in the state in 2016.
"The home ministry asked us to inquire whether transparency was maintained in the recent recruitment of the SPOs," a senior state home ministry official said.
He said the police was looking into ways to probe the matter to the satisfaction of the Union home ministry.
''A thorough investigation will be carried out of all the 3,000 appointments and the report would be sent to the Union home ministry,'' the official said.
The Union government's demand for a probe came after opposition parties in J&K alleged rules were violated in the appointment of new SPOs, and many were recruited only on political considerations.
After last year's uprising, the Centre had sanctioned 10,000 additional posts for SPOs to strengthen the police to handle large-scale agitations and also add numbers to the anti-militancy grid, but after allegations of favouritism, no fresh recruitment had taken place after August.
The sanctioned strength of SPOs in the state was 35,474, of which 4,251 positions were still vacant.
The SPOs were recruited by district senior superintendents of police and this was where chances of manipulation arose.
To check such malpractices, the Centre asked the state government to constitute a screening committee for recruitment and evolve a mechanism to review the antecedents and performance of serving SPOs.
The recruitment of SPOs was started in 1995 on a monthly remuneration of Rs 3,000. Later, the salaries were raised to Rs 6,000.
Before the 2016 uprising, the ministry of home affairs increased the honorarium of the SPOs to Rs 5,000-6,000, depending upon their experience.
In 2016, the Centre informed the state government that only those SPOs be retained who were useful in the fight against agitators and militants.
SPOs are considered to be the unsung heroes of J&K's long-drawn war against militants and agitators. Many SPOs have been killed by militants and their families have been left to fend for themselves.
The SPOs are not entitled to the 'usual' monetary benefits of government staff as they are not permanent staff of the state police.
''I am not aware of the matter,'' said J&K DGP Dr S.P. Vaid, when responding to questions about the investigation into recruitment of SPOs. “The Union home ministry banned the recruitment of SPOs after August 24 and since then, no fresh recruitment has taken place,'' Vaid claimed.
