Punjab to do away with 3 police ranges

Chandigarh, july 1
Punjab will no longer have two supervisory levels in its policing structure. Among the last states to bring in the reform, it has abolished the post of DIG in different police zones. Also, IGPs have been vested with supervisory powers.
Punjab will now have seven police ranges — Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Ropar, Ferozepur and Ludhiana. Each of these will be headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP). Earlier, four police zones were headed by a DIG each and seven by IGs. Now on, three districts will form a police range.
A new post, that of ADGP (Border), has been created for a greater vigil at the India-Pakistan border. Harpreet Singh Sidhu, in-charge of the Special Task Force to fight the drug menace, has been given the additional charge. With orders abolishing the police ranges of Ropar, Ferozepur and Ludhiana expected tomorrow, the state will have four ‘spare’ DIG-level officers.Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, calling it the beginning of police reforms aimed at providing good governance, said the tenure of “senior operations men” would be fixed. He did not mention any posts. But sources in the police department said the Director General of Police (DGP), Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) will have a fixed one-year tenure.
The CM said after the Cabinet expansion (expected by mid-July), he would keep the Home (police, Intelligence and jails), Horticulture and Animal Husbandary Departments with him. He said he would also be appointing parliamentary secretaries who would not be involved in official work “but will be trained in parliamentary roles.”
Meanwhile, the state government has decided to have English as the medium of instruction at the primary level, beginning this academic session. Mandarin, Italian and French will be introduced as optional subjects in Class X.