The State Government of Bihar has approved the appointment of 17,000 retired personnel — including ex-Army and ex-paramilitary forces — to serve as Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) under the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP). The addition of these retired personnel will significantly increase and strengthen the size of the state’s auxiliary police.
The State Government’s recent approval for the hiring of retired former soldiers for the SAP is a major initiative to strengthen law enforcement and the capability of the state’s police agencies.
Previous to this latest approval, the SAP consisted primarily of retired soldiers of the Indian Army who were hired to work on an as-needed basis under contract with the State’s SAP. Now, through this decision by the State Government, retired soldiers from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) — such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) — will also be hired to serve as Auxiliary Police Officers under contract as part of the SAP.
The complete list of positions that have been approved for hiring under this new contract include:
- 150 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs)
- 16,300 Auxiliary Police Officers
- 550 Auxiliary Police Officers Support Staff — Cooks and Other Staff
The hired employees will work under a contract to support the existing police forces of the State of Bihar usually called “Regular Police” during the Fiscal Year of 2016-17, in order to improve the operational capacity of the Regular Police.
Why the Expansion? Addressing Manpower Gaps
Currently, 2.3 lakh personnel work to protect a population of over 13 crore in Bihar Superintendent Police area. Despite continuous recruiting efforts by Bihario and the number of constables that were just selected, that have not yet graduated from training or been put into the field are a part of this overall shortfall. Hiring retirees that have experience to supplement the existing police force is an immediate option to resolve the current shortage of policing personnel in Bihar.
With this expansion of personnel, officials at SAP expect that by providing an experienced contingent of police officers, there will be additional boots on the ground in districts that are currently experiencing a high degree of personnel shortages. Additionally, by leveraging the training and operational background of retired servicemen from Defence and Paramilitary agencies will provide more experienced personnel to create an experienced supplemental police force.
Honorarium and Budget for SAP Personnel
The state government has also established new honorarium amounts for most personnel as mentioned below:
- JCO – ₹ 40,000/month (was ₹ 35,000)
- SAP Jawans – ₹ 30,000/month (was ₹25,000)
- The State has allotted ₹ 642.09 Crores in the budget for the payment of honorarium for the 17,000 additional personnel in the SAP.
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Expert and Official Perspectives
The move has been met with approval by law enforcement authorities who state that, despite the dramatic reduction in left-wing extremist-related crimes in Bihar, the experience of previously serving officers will be critical in the continued maintenance of law and order as well as the execution of sensitive policing operations.
This is one of the first occasions where previously retired officers from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been incorporated into a state’s auxiliary police force, which is a departure from previous practice where most former service members were generally recruited from the ranks of the military.
About the Special Auxiliary Police Force
Originally the SAP Force was created to provide additional support in the event of high-demand operational requirements and/or security needs (i.e., combating extremism, assisting the regular police in managing large crowds, performing public safety duties, etc.) and as officers with prior service tend to require significantly less retraining than a new recruit, they can generally be deployed quickly to the areas that need their assistance.
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As a result of this large hiring drive, the SAP Force will be close to growing from less than 2,000 personnel to approximately 20,000. This number represents an approximate 10-fold increase and will most likely alleviate some of the manning shortfalls experienced by the regular police during peak workload times; thus, allowing the regular police to concentrate more on their core law enforcement responsibilities.
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