WB Police: Kolkata: ममता दी ने केंद्र से कहा, वापस दो हमारे आईपीएस ऑफिसर..

KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee has requested Union home minister P Chidambaram to direct his ministry for the "repatriation" of two IPS officers to Bengal. The step comes from a chief minister desperate to meet the shortfall of IPS officers in her state. The two officers - Rajesh Kumar Yadav and Suman Bala Sahoo - are now on deputation with the Central government. Sahoo is now the joint director of CBI and Yadav is serving as the SP of National Investigation Agency.

Though both are yet to complete their five-year tenure with the Centre, Mamata wants them to be back in Bengal urgently and work for the state. For the past few months, the state home department and the Union ministry have been discussing the issue, but the Centre has not been very keen on releasing the officers. According to the chief minister, Yadav had served in difficult areas in Bengal (he was SP in Purulia) and his experience would be valuable in the current scenario (read the Jangalmahal crisis) in Bengal. Mamata has often rued the absence of officers in the state and has taken a stand not to let officers from Bengal go on deputation. The number of IPS officers in the state cadre is 230 - with 159 IPS recruits and another 71 promotees. Bengal has the second largest number of IPS officer strength in the country. But at a time when there is shortage of IPS officers throughout the country, it means the number of vacancies for IPS officers in Bengal is also among the highest in the country. Out of the 230 IPS officers, 34 are currently on deputation, mostly on Central government duty, but some are also in inter-cadre deputation. However, even the number of deputed officers is well below the quota of West Bengal - about 60 - the maximum number of IPS officers who can go on deputation from the state.