GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Internal Security – Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
Source: The Hindu
Context: With the Line of Actual Control remaining tense, India is raising seven new battalions of the famed patrol force ITBP, for ‘effective monitoring’ of the border region.
New Battalions:
- The battalions are expected to be raised by 2025-26, increasing the strength of the ITBP from the current 88,000 to 97,000, making it the fourth largest CAPF.
- The last time ITBP battalions were raised was in 2011.
About ITBP:
- The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a border patrol organization of India deployed along its borders with Tibet Autonomous Region.
- It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces, established in 1962 in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
- The ITBP guards 3,488 km long India-China borders ranging from the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Apart from this, the Force also has important roles in many internal security duties and operations against Left Wing Extremism in the state of Chhattisgarh.
- ITBP is a specialized Armed Police Force of the Nation, which trains its personnel in various disciplines including mountaineering and skiing apart from intensive tactical training.
- ITBP also conducts relief and rescue operations as ‘First Responders’ for natural calamities in the Himalayan region.
For Issues facing ITBP, Contributions of ITBP and other details: Click Here
- The Ministry of Home Affairs maintains seven CAPFs:
- The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), assists in internal security and counterinsurgency.
- The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), protects vital installations (like airports) and public sector undertakings.
- The National Security Guards (NSG), is a special counterterrorism force.
- Four border guarding forces, which are the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and Assam Rifles (AR).
Mains Link: UPSC 2016
Border management is a complex task due to difficult terrain and hostile relations with some countries. Elucidate the challenges and strategies for effective border management.
