Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his annoyance at the reported demotion of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel who had been promoted to higher ranks, without informing the government about the move.
An investigation has been ordered against the official who took the decision without giving information to the government.
The chief minister said that any decision which demoralised the police force would not be tolerated.
According to a press release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Saturday, Yogi Adityanath has ordered immediate promotion of the demoted PAC personnel.
“The chief minister has directed the DGP to ensure promotion of the personnel as per the rules. He has said that the officials who took this decision without informing the government should be held accountable and a report should be sent to the government in this regard,” the press release said.
At the centre of the controversy is an order issued by ADG (Establishment) Piyush Anand, directing 896 PAC personnel to join back in their parent cadre.
After this all the jawans were sent back to the PAC from the civil police. This led to the demotion of the jawans who went to the civil police from the armed constabulary.
Besides those who got promotion in their pay scale, a head constable and six sub-inspectors were demoted as constable after they were sent back to PAC.
In the last 20 years, all of them went from PAC to civil police after joining as constable in PAC.
Interestingly after the controversy, the ADG (Establishment) claimed that no staff would be allowed to be harmed and they would be adjusted according to their batch.
However, when the complaint reached the chief minister, he expressed displeasure and instructed the DGP to immediately promote all these 896 jawans.
The decision has also been challenged in the Allahabad High Court.
The entire matter is now under probe.
It may be mentioned that in 1948, the UP Military Police and UP State Armed Constabulary were amalgamated into the Provincial Armed Constabulary. The PAC was created to prevent the frequent deployment of the army in grave law and order situations that the local police could not handle on its own. Even though it was meant for the UP, the PAC has had the privilege of serving across the length and breadth of the country.
