Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement on Saturday that the government had not stalled transfer orders of police personnel and the officers were “free to go and report to their designated places” has added to the confusion on the issue.
He was speaking at a programme here to present medals to Fire and Emergency Services personnel for their meritorious service.
He said the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police, who heads the Police Establishment Board (PEB), was the authority to take a decision on the issue and reiterated that he would not interfere in the decision made by the board.
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However, DG and IGP L.R. Pachau, who was present at the event, refused to comment on the transfer issue.
As many as 498 police inspectors and 138 deputy superintendents of police were transferred on Wednesday, but the DG and IGP’s office later directed the officers to maintain status quo until further orders as the list needs to be revised.
Significantly, the direction was sent soon after Mr. Siddaramaiah held a meeting on Friday following complains from several Congress MLAs that police officers of their choice had not been posted to their constituencies.
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Chief Minister, on Saturday, denied his interference but refused to explain the reason for the confusion.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who distributed the Chief Minister’s Medal for 2012 to 39 Home Guards, 10 Civil Defence staff and 46 Fire and Emergency Services personnel, promised Rs. 1-crore grant to the department’s welfare fund and lauded their round-the-clock service .
He said the government had sanctioned State Disaster Response Force for Bangalore, Mangalore, Gulbarga and Belgaum districts. Also, Rs. 11.97 crore had been sanctioned to set up disaster management centre and rescue control rooms, he said.