A reserve of armed police is maintained in every district. Its strength is fixed for each district.
74. Time limit for the service in armed reserve.—
Service in the armed reserve must be assigned by roster so as to pass every member of the armed police through the reserve in turn. The period of service should not exceed two months. The reserve should be relieved en bloc, but for special reasons the Superintendent may order a man to serve in the reserve for a second consecutive period.
75. Limits of leave of the men in armed reserve.—
The Superintendent may assign men on leave to the reserve, but the proportion of such men must not exceed 11 /85th of the reserves. Leave may be granted to a member of the reserve only when it is very urgently needed on account of illness or specially urgent private affairs.
Recruits with not less than a year's service may be assigned to the reserve but the proportion of recruits must not exceed the actual proportion of recruits with not less than a year's service to the total sanctioned strength of the armed police.
When the total number of vacancies in the armed police exceeds 20 per cent of sanctioned strength and the number of recruits with less than one year's service exceeds the number of recruits with more than one year's service, recruits with more than one year's service may be regarded as efficient constables for the purpose of assignment to the reserve. Recruits with more than six month’s service may then be posted to the reserve in the proportion specified in the first clause of this paragraph. Exceptional arrangements under this clause require the previous approval of the Deputy Inspector General of the range.
76. Deputation of armed police for special duty.—
When armed police are deputed for special duty in another district, they should be supplied from this reserve unless the officer who orders the deputation directs otherwise.
The reserve may be employed within the district on special dacoity duty, to keep order at fairs and other large gatherings, or to assist in preventing a serious breach of the peacefDetailed information of the employment of the reserve on such duty must be sent to the Deputy Inspector-General without delay. Permission to employ the reserve is restricted to special occasions, but there is no objection to the employment of portion of the reserve on night patrol duty headquarters; this may be regarded as part of the ordinary training of the reserve and need not be reported to the Deputy Inspector-General.
77. Restriction of duties for the member of reserve.—
Member of the reserve may not be employed oh routine duty, such as guard or-escort duty, unless the occasion is urgent and the requisite police cannot otherwise be provided. A call on the reserve should be avoided whenever civil police are available and can safely be employed, to supplement the armed police. Whenever any member of the reserve is employed on routine duty, the Superintendent must immediately send a detailed report to the Deputy Inspector-General explaining the reasons. If the Superintendent is not at headquarters, and if orders cannot be obtained from him before members of the reserve are detailed for routine duty, this report should be prepared and despatched by the senior officer at headquarters, who must submit a copy to the Superintendent.
78. Maintenance of armed training reserve.—
The armed training reserve must, in each period of training be put through a complete course in drill, musketry, observation, the general duties of armed police, elementary law and such other portions of the lines school curriculum as the Superintendent considers suitable.