Tamil Nadu Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Agarwal has ordered police commissioners and district superintendents to submit an urgent report on Sub-Inspector vacancies across the state, amid a reported shortage of personnel affecting law-and-order duties.
The order covers the 38 district police units and nine metropolitan commissionerates operating in Tamil Nadu, according to a report by Dinamalar. Authorities have been asked to provide details of sanctioned male and female Sub-Inspector posts, the number of officers currently in service and the vacancies in each unit.
The information must reach the DGP’s office by the 5th of the month, the report said. Police authorities have also been instructed to submit the gender- and category-wise composition of serving Sub-Inspectors, along with category-wise details of vacant posts.
The vacancy assessment will extend beyond district and city police establishments. The order also seeks details of vacant Sub-Inspector posts in special units, the armed police and the narcotics prevention special task force, according to the report. The instruction is intended to give the state police headquarters a consolidated picture of staffing requirements across different operational wings.
Tamil Nadu’s police administration is carrying out the exercise at a time when personnel shortages have been reported within the department. The Dinamalar report said the shortage has created difficulties in maintaining law and order, but it did not provide the sanctioned strength, current deployment or total number of vacancies.
The data collection could form the administrative basis for future recruitment planning. Dinamalar reported that an announcement for a Sub-Inspector recruitment examination may be issued after the vacancy figures are compiled. However, no recruitment notification, examination schedule or confirmed number of posts had been announced in the supplied report.
The immediate next step is for the metropolitan commissioners and district superintendents to submit the requested staffing information to the DGP’s office by the stated deadline. The final vacancy position and any decision on recruitment will depend on the consolidated figures prepared by the department.