The re-appointment of retired IAS officer Ajit Lal as chief of the joint intelligence committee (JIC) – the apex security agency responsible for collating, assessing and disseminating intelligence relating to national security that works under the National Security Advisor (NSA) in the PMO – for a year on the “contract” basis after he retired from the post on August 31 has gone virtually unnoticed. Close on the heels of this comes the news that the home ministry plans to do the same with CRPF DG, Vijay Kumar, who is retiring on September 30. 

Is it because there is paucity of talent? Are we to understand that there are no competent officers to replace them? If indeed that is so, shouldn’t the home ministry and the appointments committee of cabinet (ACC) ring the alarm bells and do something about it, which they haven’t done yet?

Or is it a case of promoting cronyism? This is not quite uncommon phenomenon. Several officers are known to have got repeated extensions and continued in their position after their superannuation, both at the centre and in states, for no other reason than that they are close to their political masters. This practice only reinforces the belief that qualifications other than professional competence are needed for holding crucial positions in the government and can hardly be described as desirable.