Home Ministry discontinues three police awards instituted by Rajnath Singh in 2018

The Union Home Ministry has discontinued three police awards instituted in 2018 by then Home Minister Rajnath Singh, it said in a notification on Wednesday.

The three awards were given to the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, State police, Intelligence Bureau officials and home guards for exemplary work in internal security duty and investigation of criminal cases. After the 2019 Lok Sabha election, former Bharatiya Janta Party president Amit Shah was appointed as the Union Home Minister. The Ministry notified that the “Police Antrik Suraksha Seva Padak” for police personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, Left Wing Extremism-affected areas and North East region, instituted on July 23, 2018, stood discontinued with effect from January 1, 2023.

The “Utkrisht Seva Padak” and the “Ati Utkrisht Seva Padak” instituted on July 23,2018 for “permanent police personnel and other permanent support staff working in CAPFs, State/Union Territory(UT) Police Forces, Central Police Organizations(CPOs), Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Intelligence organisations of the Central Government/State/UT/CAPF, Home Guards and any other armed Police Force of the Union throughout the Indian Union, stands discontinued,” the notification added. A government official said that the discontinuation of awards was “part of process for improving the ecosystem for the awards”.