Panaji, Aug 28 (IANS): It is difficult at times to transfer police service officers from a soft posting like Goa and sometimes officers have a vested interest in resisting tough postings, former home secretary G.K. Pillai said Tuesday.

Pillai was here to attend a retreat of national regulators and policy makers at a beach resort.

"What happens is that sometimes a lot of police officers have vested interests to stay back. The state governments do not relieve them. Goa is not considered as hard posting," he said.

"If you have to be shifted to a hard posting like Arunachal Pradesh from a soft posting like Goa, then some officer has to be relieved. That does not happen sometimes," he added.

Pillai also gave his opinion on the war of words between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over the posting of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to the state.

Parrikar has said that the ministry was "imposing" IPS officers on Goa without taking the state government into confidence.

Pillai said transfers of IPS officers were carried out by the MHA strictly based on a transfer policy, which was evolved some years back and contained inputs of key officials from the state and the ministry.

"The transfer policy has been formed by the home ministry. The chief secretary as well as the director general of police of the state are consulted. So as long as the transfers are according to policy, then the state government should accept," Pillai said.