April 2, 2026
Mahua Moitra’s speech on The Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Bill, 2026
Thank you, Chairperson, Sir. I am the only speaker from my Party. “ऐ मेरेविन के लोगं, जरा आख म ं ंभर लो पानी, जो शहीद हुए हंउनकी, जरा याद करो कुबाानी, जब दश म े ंथी तदवाली, वेखेल रहेथेहोली, जब हम बैठेथेघरं मं, वेझेल रहेथेगोली, थेिन्य जवान वो अपने, थी िन्य उनकी जवानी, िम भ ु ूल न जाओ उनको, इसतलए सनो य ु ेकहानी।” Hon. Chairperson, Sir, today, I stand here not just on behalf of my party, the All India Trinamool Congress but I stand for every single jawan, for every single officer of the Central Armed Police Forces to oppose the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Bill, 2026 with all my mind. I speak for those CAPF officers who are killed in action and denied the tag of a martyr. This Government insists on calling them operational casualties. I speak for those officers who are recruited through UPSC — just like IPS — who guard 15,000 kilometres of India’s borders, serve in conditions that rivals active warfare from Ladakh’s frozen heights to Chattisgarh’s jungles and respond as the first line of command to every terrorist operation. They have no fix duty time, no guaranteed family postings, no compensatory leave and they handle the full spectrum of national security threats from Jammu and Kashmir to Manipur. Disaster Relief Duty is there after every national calamity. Election duty is there. There have been more than 1,128 official-level deaths. My colleague Shri Dharmendra Yadav has already spoken about a number of jawans. Across all CAPFs, more than 1,128 official level deaths have taken place during combat and operational duties during the period 1990 to 2025. There are 217 plus permanently-disabled officers whose disability pensions also you are taxing now. It is their voice which the Government has consistently refused to listen to in the past 15 years. It is their voice which is resonating through all our voices in this House today. It is these officers whom this Government has refused to consult; whom you have refused to consider as stakeholders; you have aggressively fought them in the courts for the past 15 years; and even after losing case after case to them, you are not willing to do the right thing. Let us understand first the history of the CAPF in India and where the problem lies, where the root of the problem is, and why the Government is bringing in this Bill now on the back of a Supreme Court judgment, which they lost, and a failed review petition which went against the MHA in February, 2026, and an upcoming contempt petition next week. We know most commonly of the five CAPFs, but actually there are seven CAPFs. There were seven paramilitary forces set up in India in the 150- year period between 1835 and 1984, and they are all covered under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The oldest is the Assam Rifles set up in 1835 as the Cachar Levy. It is responsible for the Indo-Myanmar border and counterinsurgency. This is the only one with the two-tiered command. So, its operational command is under the Ministry of Defence and it is headed by a Lieutenant General rank Army officer, Its administrative command is with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Then, this was followed by the Crown Representative’s Police in 1939, later renamed as the CRPF in 1949. This is the largest force with 3.3 lakh, and it is responsible for internal security and anti-Naxal operations. It even contains the specialist unit ‘Cobra’. Then, came the three forces guarding our borders. First, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was set up after the 1962 Chinese war to guard the Sino-Indian border. The Sashastra Seema Bal was set up in 1963 for the Indo-Nepal and the Indo-Bhutan borders. After the Indo-Pakistan war, the BSF was set up in 1965, and today it also helps the Army and the CRPF in counter-insurgency operations. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was set up in 1969 to provide security for critical installations, to guard our nuclear sites, and to guard our airports. Today, it is also responsible for the duty of guarding X, Y, Z, and Z plus persons who are covered in these security categories. In fact, our Home Minister has famously said that he owes his life to them. Fantastic! At last, the National Security Guards was set up as a specialist commando unit in 1984. Now, the CAPF in India has about 13,000 Group ‘A’ officers leading a total strength of 9.5 lakh active personnel. This is only 25 per cent less than the Indian Army, which has about 12.5 lakh active soldiers on the ground today. Now, these CAPF officer positions, when they come in through the UPSC, they come in as Assistant Commandants through the UPSC. Going forward is the twist. The problem is, they enter, then what happens? So, as Assistant Commandant or Deputy Commandant, you are filled in by UPSC recruitment; up to Senior Commandant, you are promoted; and the minute you come to DIG level, you have a 70:30 cadre to deputation ratio, which means 70 per cent from the cadre and 30 per cent from IPS deputation. When you go to Senior Administrative Grade, which is SAG, IG rank, you have 50:50, that is, 50 per cent will come in from the IPS. When you get to the higher levels, which is the HAGs and the apex, which is ADGP and DG, no CAPF officer, no matter how good he is or how hard he works, can ever head his own force. It is always going to be from outside. Always a DG is going to be an IPS. How is this fair? So, generalist IPS officers are parachuted into CAPF commands as DIG, IG, ADG to occupy the very posts that CAPF cadre officers have been training for 20-30 years. So, a CRPF commandant with Cobra experience in Bastar in Chhattisgarh is watching silently as an IPS officer with no CAPF background is suddenly assuming command over him. How is this fair? You tell us. Every time the BJP pulls some unknown BJP worker out of the hat and makes him Chief Minister, they tell all of us, “Look how great the BJP is. Even the lowliest worker can get to the top post.” Even our Pradhan Mantri came from a very humble background. He has become the Prime Minister. The top job is available to him. Then how can this Government, led by this very ruling Party, deny this meritocracy to the men who are shedding and staking every drop of their blood for this country? What kind of double standards are these? Now, there was a historical reason for this IPS deputation. When the new services were set up in 1962, 1963, 1965 or 1969, what happened? There was going to be a time lag of 20 to 30 years when in-house officers rose to senior positions through career progressions. So even then, when there was a shortage of cadre officers, they did not put down on paper that there should be reservation for IPS. The IPS officer deputation was only meant to be a temporary stop-gap arrangement. It was never meant to be a permanent hegemony over the forces. You see Lallan Prasad Singh, ICS, he was Union Home Secretary. In 1970, what did Lallan Prasad Singh say? He said, “Finding avenues of promotion for officers of the IPS cannot be the overriding objective. The force must provide adequate avenues of promotion to its own officers.” Take Khusro Rustam ji. He himself was an IPS. He was the first DG of the BSF from 1966 to 1970. What did he say? He said, “In due course, there would be sufficient officers to occupy the higher ranks of Deputy Commandants and would not like to take IPS or Army officers on deputation.” This is Khusro Rustam ji. The Khusro Rustam ji Committee Report was the basis on which the Coast Guard was set up. In the report, he said that the DG of the Coast Guard should be somebody from the Coast Guard. That is why today, the Coast Guard is not led by an IPS officer. It is led by somebody from the Coast Guard. Shri Vijay Kanetkar was DG of the CRPF in 1966. What did he say? He said, “I felt that the claims of such CRPF senior officers for higher ranks should not be ignored. Then we have the 7th Central Pay Commission Report of 2015. It mentions clearly, “Such Group ‘A’ officers should get sufficient opportunity to man senior positions in the CAPF. The percentage of posts year-marked for deputation officers should be reviewed and service rules should be amended. Officers from the CAPF must be made eligible for manning the highest post of Director General DG.” In 2018, it is the BJP government. There are two Committee reports both saying exactly the same thing. The first, there is an Estimates Committee Report headed by Murali Manohar Joshi ji in March 2018. What does it say? “It is surprising to note that even when these officers were recruited by UPSC through open competition and that too at officer level, the top positions in CAPF are occupied by IPS officers. IPS officers, in spite of competence and efficiency, cannot have the advantage of expertise that the insider has.” This is the truth. The harshest comments came from the report in December 2018 by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs chaired by Mr. Chidambaram. It made very, very stringent comments. What does it say? “The CAPFs have come of age, however, neither short of experience nor short of numbers. No more than 25 per cent posts should be reserved for officers coming on deputation and there should be no reservation of posts of Director General in any CAPF and officers of CAPF should be given equal opportunity to reach the topmost ranks.” In spite of all these experts, in spite of all these reports, what does this Government do? First, the Central Government even refused to recognise that the CAPF was an organised Group ‘A’ service, which is commonly known as OGAS. They said, you are not an OGAS. CAPF officers went to the Delhi High Court in 2015. The High Court ruled in their favour and said very clearly that the five CAPFs, which is the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF, are definitely part of OGAS and entitled to Sixth Pay Commission NonFunctional Financial Upgradation. What did the Government do? It did not listen. It went to appeal in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, a bench of Rohinton Nariman and M. R. Shah in February 2019, upheld the Delhi High Court judgement and told the Government, “Please grant Non-Functional Financial Upgradation and regard them as organised Group A services. The court said the Government is doing U-turns. What is applicable to all Group ‘A’ Central services must be applicable to CAPF. You cannot deny them.” The 2019 order also stated that the cadre review should begin immediately and be completed by 30th June 2019. It laid down a clear deadline. After that, what happened? The Cabinet met in July. Narendra Modi ji chaired the Cabinet meeting in July, 2019 and said, “all right, we will pay you.” They agreed to the financial component, which was the Non-Functional Financial Upgradation. But they did nothing regarding the cadre review, amending the service rules, or stopping deputation. They did nothing. Then, in 2024, another batch of petitions was filed by BSF, CISF, and other CAPFs, stating that you have been declared OGAS for all purposes, not merely financial. So why are consequential steps like cadre review and restructuring not being carried out? Finally, on May 23rd, 2025 – just listen to this 13-year-long saga. सन लीतजए यह कहानी। सबको यह कहानी स ु ननी ह ु ै। On May 23rd, 2025, a Supreme Court bench of Justice Oka and Justice Bhuyan delivered an order in favour of the CAPFs. I have the order here. Section 45 clearly states: “Amend the service recruitment rules with all consequential benefits after hearing CAPF officers within six months. Complete the cadre review, which was due in 2021, within six months. Phase out deputation posts up to IG and SAG levels within two years ” What did your Government do? Did it comply? No. It immediately filed a review petition. Whom are you fighting? You are fighting 13,000 officers who serve and sacrifice their lives for this country. Is this the battle you should be choosing? The MHA’s review petition was dismissed by the Chief Justice in October. Chief Justice Suryakant dismissed it. The judgment is final and binding. Yet, not a single directive has been complied with. A contempt petition was filed against the MHA in January. Hearings took place in February and March. The Additional Solicitor General of the Government of India stood up and said, “No, no, we are considering legislative alternatives.” Now, what is this so-called legislative alternative? These four pages that I hold in my hand – this Bill. This is the legislative alternative. It is not even worth the paper it is printed on. Do you know why? Let me read out Clause 3. Clause 3 of this Bill states: “Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any judgment, decree, or order issued from time to time, the Central Government may, by notification, make rules to provide for the method, manner, and mode of recruitment, including promotion and deputation and such rules shall provide that 50 per cent of the posts shall be filled by deputation in the rank of IG, a minimum of 67 per cent of posts shall be filled by deputation in the rank of ADG and all DG and Special DG posts shall be filled through deputation.” Now, I believe the Law Ministry of this Government has gone into sleep. It has been a long winter, and it is still not summer yet in Delhi. Perhaps they are still in hibernation and need to wake up. Why? It is because you are not even stating this in the Bill that is meant to become an Act. You are not saying it explicitly. Instead, you are saying that rules will be framed. I think the Law Ministry has not even considered that on October 29th , 2025, the Supreme Court delivered a significant judgment. Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Augustine George Masih held that the Legislature cannot override a court judgment. It can only cure defects in its basis through valid amendments. So, if it is a settled principle of law that even an Act cannot override a judgment, you are attempting to introduce rules that will override a judgment. And not just any judgment – a judgment that has already withstood a review. That is the kind of path you are pursuing. So, you are following a path which is morally reprehensible and legally fallacious. It is bound to be struck down in the court. The State is eroding officers’ morale through structural stagnation, and yet you expect excellence on the battlefield. Look at the figures: 438 suicides among CAPF personnel in the last three years – nearly 150 every year on average. A 300 per cent increase in fratricides within just one year, from 2024 to 2025. A 50 per cent increase in resignations among CAPF personnel between 2014 and 2025. In the Statement of Objects and Reasons in this Bill, on the final page, you are stating: “For ensuring close coordination between the Union and the States for effective operational functioning, it is essential to maintain the existing system of deputation of IPS officers in the CAPFs.” With due respect, Sir, this is completely false. Actually, this IPS deputation in the CAPF is being weaponised against the Opposition during the time of election. In Bengal, what have you done today? You have removed all Bengal cadre IPS officers. You have shifted every single State cadre police officer. Why? It is because you are saying they are agents of Trinamool Congress Party. Fine, they are agents of Trinamool Congress Party. But what have you done? You have brought in IPS officers from every BJP-ruled State to control the CAPF in Bengal. Let me give you one example. In Bengal today, there are 2500 CAPF companies, that is, 2.5 lakh soldiers on the ground, being controlled by one key player, Shri Shalabh Mathur, IG rank officer, 2006 batch, UP cadre. He only joined the CRPF on deputation in January, only two months ago and he is already there in the Bengal polls. His wife is posted as Joint Director, Central Intelligence Bureau in Kolkata. She is a Manipur cadre IPS. Another backed up duo, Ashish Bharti and Swapna Meshram, both IPS DIGs, 2011 Bihar cadre, recently joined CRPF are posted to Bengal. Now why suddenly post two husband-wife duos with no experience in Bengal, who have just joined CRPF? I have got one minute more, Sir. Last Sunday, in Leh, the hon. Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant Ji told us that the nation must never place its soldiers in the position of fighting two battles at once; one at the frontier and another at home; for what is lawfully theirs. This is the Chief Justice of India saying this. Now, instead of improving working conditions, equipment, food, acclimatisation, pensions, and making sure that when they are transferred, their children get admission into Kendra Vidyalayas, what is the Government doing? It is hell-bent on demoralising and destroying the careers of 13,000 CAPF officers and the morale of the 10-lakh strong force. I have got one minute more, Sir. I am the only speaker from my Party. I have got one minute more, Sir. The Home Minister knows he is wrong. Yesterday, he did not come to the Rajya Sabha. Today, his Deputy has stood here to bring this Bill into this House. We, the Trinamool Congress, are not going to sit back while you play political games over our brave forces. Please send this Bill to a select committee to deliberate on it. India has one rallying call, Sir, Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan! This Government has already got the inglorious record of bringing in the shameful farm laws and was forced to backtrack by our kisan. Do not make the same mistake again. Our Jawans have won every battle on the ground and in the courts and they will defeat you again. Jai Hind! Jai Hind Ki Sena!
