New Delhi, Oct. 17 -- For a constable in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the first promotion can take 22 to 25 years. Now, the country's largest paramilitary force is considering a change that could give its personnel two additional steps up the career ladder, reviving the ranks of lance naik and naik after nearly 30 years.

The two ranks were scrapped in the CRPF in 1997 under a Ministry of Home Affairs order, which merged them with the police ranks of constable and head constable. They continue to exist in the Army.

Under the earlier promotion structure, a constable could become a lance naik after five years, a naik after 10 years and a head constable after 20 years. The current system, however, has left personnel facing long waits for their first promotion, fuelling dissatisfaction among the force's approximately 3.25 lakh personnel.

The CRPF headquarters has asked hundreds of field formations across the country to hold meetings, known as Sainik Sammelans, within two days to gather personnel's views on bringing back the ranks, officials told PTI on Saturday.

The proposal could also help the force attract former Army Agniveers, whose first batch will begin completing its four-year tenure later this year. These personnel will be eligible to join Central Armed Police Forces, including the CRPF, under the existing recruitment framework.

Currently, CAPFs have an interim arrangement under which constables wear insignia equivalent to the lance naik rank, but there is no corresponding provision for naik.

For the proposal to make a real difference, however, the structure of promotions will matter as much as the titles themselves.

Ranbir Singh, secretary general of the Ex-Paramilitary Personnel Association, said the move would benefit personnel only if promotions came within fixed timelines. Without that, he warned, the exercise would prove futile.

A senior CRPF commandant also cautioned against a merely cosmetic change, saying the revised structure must preserve battalion discipline and operational efficiency. With more than 20 subordinate officers serving in a battalion of over 1,000 personnel, the force will need to consider how the additional ranks fit into its existing hierarchy.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.