For the first time in the history of Central police organisations, an officer from within the cadre has been appointed an Additional Director General of the force.

Naresh Gaur, a 1969 batch officer of BSF, on Friday took charge as ADG, breaking the monopoly of the Indian Police Service at this level. Gaur will hold this post for only 20 days as he is due to retire at the end of this month.

Gaur’s appointment has been the culmination of a long-standing demand of cadre officers of the Central police forces to reserve some of the higher ranked posts for them. Until now, the posts of DG, ADG, and most of the IGs were manned by IPS officers. Many IPS officers join these forces at the DIG level as well.

The Sixth Pay Commission had supported the demand of the cadre officers and recommended that 100 per cent of posts at DIG level, 50 per cent at the IG level and 33 per cent at the ADG level be reserved for cadre officers.

No final decision has been taken on the recommendations but Gaur’s appointment has come as a big morale-boosting step for the Central police personnel.