PANAJI
When the Goa government cleared one of the largest promotion lists in the police department in recent years, it was meant to project decisiveness and renewal. More than two weeks on, it has instead revealed an administrative pause.
Nineteen Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs), promoted on January 23 to the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) with immediate effect, remain without postings, offices or designated successors.
Though elevated in rank, the officers continue to function in their old roles, overseeing the same divisions and files.
Those promoted include Shaikh Salim, Wilson D’Souza, Francisco Corte, Roy Pereira, Nolasco Raposo, Braz Menezes, Nutan Verenker, Gurudas Kadam, Siddhant Shirodkar, Jivba Dalvi, Rajan Nigalye, Rajendra Dessai, Nerlon Albuquerque, Ashish Shirodkar, Pravinkumar Vast, Sagar Ekoskar, Rajesh Kumar, Tushar Vernekar and Vishwesh Karpe.
The promotions, granted on a regular basis to Junior Scale officers of the Goa Police Service, marked the biggest such exercise since January 2022, when 25 Police Inspectors were elevated to DySPs.
Incidentally, the uncertainty is not without precedent. During the previous promotion round, DySPs were transferred only after a gap of nearly five months. This delay now appears to be repeating itself with the current batch, fuelling speculation about deeper internal churn, whether competing claims over postings or unresolved administrative calculations are slowing the process.
The Goan attempted to contact the concerned officials at the Secretariat and the Goa Police; however, none were available for comment.
The newly promoted SPs add to the cadre that now includes around 11 GPS officers, along with 10 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers occupying posts up to the rank of Director General of Police.
In 2024, the Goa Public Service Commission cancelled the direct recruitment process for 28 DySP posts after the government informed the High Court of its decision to scrap the exercise. Only last month -- after the 19 promotions -- did the Personnel Department initiate steps to revive recruitment, moving a file to fill nearly 30 vacant DySP positions.
Official figures show the sanctioned strength of DySPs at around 65, including two ex-cadre posts. Of these, 27 are meant to be filled by promotion and 38 through direct recruitment.
