Kathmandu, July 10

The parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee today tentatively agreed on the rank of the head of provincial police.

The committee’s Chairperson and Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Shashi Shrestha said although there were issues to be agreed upon in the Police Personnel Adjustment Bill, the panel tentatively agreed that deputy inspector general of police would lead the provincial police force. “A final decision in this regard is yet to be taken,” she told THT. “Discussion is under way.”

The panel has been holding discussion on the bill for the past few weeks as members expressed divergent views. While some committee members, including NCP lawmaker Janardan Sharma, are of the view that provincial police force should be led by Additional Inspector General of Police, others are for endorsing the bill’s provision that a DIG should lead provincial police.

Earlier, former home minister Sharma had suggested provincial police force should be led by AIG, and that the AIG could lead the federal police force if eligible. He also suggested that provincial police should be given authority to recruit personnel, except for the chief.

However, Nepali Congress lawmaker Dilendra Prasad Badu supported the bill’s provision that a DIG should head the provincial police force.

The committee has yet to decide on the title of the provincial police chief. Some of the members have suggested ‘provincial police commissioner’, while others have proposed ‘provincial police chief’. Lawmakers are also divided on whether police officials should get a promotion while adjusting them in provinces.

Altogether, 55,000 police personnel will be adjusted in seven provinces, while the federal police force will have 20,000 personnel. The bill has also provisioned that provincial police personnel could be transferred to federal police force, and vice versa. Transfers of provincial police chiefs will be done by the federal government.