NEW DELHI: Newly appointed CRPF DG Gyanendra Pratap Singh has spelt out his priorities for the more than 3 lakh personnel strong force, underlining that instances of sexual misconduct and corruption in services meant for the jawans will be dealt with “ruthlessly”, official sources said on Monday.
The head of the country’s largest paramilitary force also made it clear in his first interaction with his force commanders held last week that the CRPF will be guided by the philosophy of “nation first” followed by the welfare of the organisation and its staffers.
Singh, a 1991-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, took charge as the Central Reserve Police Force director general (DG) on January 30 here. Before this, he was serving as the Assam director general of police.
The new DG made clear his priorities as he underlined that being good human beings, compassionate with junior colleagues and ensuring an “enabling” environment for the personnel and their families should be the way forward.
He said reducing stress levels in the force will receive his highest attention, a senior officer told PTI.
He categorically made it clear that instances of sexual misconduct against female personnel, corruption in resources meant for junior-most colleagues will be dealt with “ruthlessly” and would attract “stringent” action. There will be zero tolerance for these activities, he said.
The DG also directed senior officers to ensure “transparency” in human resource issues and timely implementation of welfare schemes. He was of the view that the families of the personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty and those of veterans should be taken care of at all times, a second officer said.
It was stressed by the DG during the first interaction held via video conferencing that the force will adopt a “collective decision” policy and the ideas of the junior-most colleagues in the constabulary ranks, who form the bulk of the force, will be heard before taking major decisions.
It was also directed that hygiene and cleanliness in all CRPF offices across the country will be adhered to apart from ensuring toilet facilities for women personnel while on operational duty like law and order and crowd control scenarios, the officials said.
The CRPF chief has now embarked on an official tour to the most challenging combat theatre of the force in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar area where the paramilitary is working to ensure the Union government’s commitment to end the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) menace from the country by the declared deadline of March 2026.
The Bastar region in the state’s southern part remains the “last bastion” in this drive, officials have earlier said.
Singh visited a forward operating base (FOB), a CoBRA commandos unit, and some remote CRPF battalion bases and also met locals of the Bastar area whom the force is engaging with as part of its two-pronged approach of undertaking anti-Naxal operations on one hand and winning the trust of the villagers and tribals on the other by organising medical camps and providing them with some basic household items.
The CRPF is the mainstay for internal security duties in the country and works in three main theatres of LWE, counter-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and counter-insurgency in some Northeastern states apart from protecting high-risk VIPs. (PTI)