New Delhi, March 30 BJP member Sudhanshu Trivedi on Monday rejected the opposition's criticism of the Central Armed Police Forces Bill in the Rajya Sabha and asserted that the Modi government is determined to protect the interests of CAPFs, which are India's "main line of internal defence".
Participating in the discussion on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, he said that under the proposed legislation, the existing arrangement of promotions has been organized so that there is no confusion or overlap, and legal issues are prevented.
The proposed CAPF (General Administration) Bill, 2026, removes the existing 20 per cent IPS deputation quota at the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) level, which is a concession to cadre officers, he said.
"Now, personnel at the Assistant Commandant level will be able to reach the DIG level, 50 per cent will be able to reach the IG level, and 1/3 will be able to reach up to the Additional DG level. So, I believe that an arrangement has been defined so that it is uniform across all forces and legal issues are avoided," Trivedi said.
He claimed that even at present, up to 45 per cent of these personnel reach the level of IG.
"It is being said that this Bill will affect morale. I want to state that the strength of paramilitary forces is up to 11 lakh. In this, the gazetted officers are only between 1 and 1.5 per cent, and even among them, those who are IPS officers are 1-1.5 per cent. Therefore, this Bill is affecting posts of 0.10 and 0.15 per cent of personnel."
"Therefore, saying that this will affect the morale of 11 lakh forces does not seem logically feasible," he argued.
Targeting the Congress, the BJP MP said that during the UPA rule, Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was given the death penalty by the Supreme Court, but his mercy petition was kept in abeyance for seven years. "Was the morale not affected at that time, when the CAPF personnel even returned their medals," he said.
"Sonia Gandhi didn't shed a tear then... This shows the kind of politics that was being played on the morale of our security forces."
"But our government is completely sensitive to the quality and quality of service at all three levels – soldiers, middle-level officers, and high-level officers," he said.
Trivedi said that the central armed police forces not only take charge at the borders but also inside the country. "So we can say that it is not just India's first line of defence, it is India's main line of internal defence," he said.
"The Modi government is trying tooth and nail to defend the interests of these forces, which are the main line of India's defence," he said.
The government has made an arrangement whereby 50 per cent of the IG posts will be filled from Assistant Commandant level and 50 per cent from IPS, for Additional DG posts, 67 per cent will be from IPS and the remaining 33 per cent from Assistant Commandant level, for DG posts, only IPS officers will be deputed, he said on the bill.
He said that officers who have on-ground experience of working with the state police and also with other agencies will be able to handle coordination in a better and more effective manner.
Trivedi said the Modi government is connected to the realities on the ground and quipped that opposition leaders who are frequently flying abroad have little understanding of the situation.
Speaking on the Bill, M Thambidurai of AIADMK said the welfare of security personnel has to be taken care of with measures like focus on housing and strengthening of mental health-care initiatives meant for them.
He termed the Emergency as one of the "dark periods of this democracy", and said several DMK leaders were sent to jail and suffered during Indira Gandhi's rule. The same DMK now wants to support Congress as part of the alliance in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
He expressed confidence that the AIADMK-led NDA will form a government in the state after the upcoming polls.
