Paramilitary and CAPFs of India




This should interest you @Falcon
 
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MHA Sanctions 42,000 Bullet-Proof Jackets, 176 Armoured Vehicles For CRPF Jawans

by Swarajya Staff - Jun 01 2020, 8:49 am
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Led by Amit Shah, the Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) has sanctioned around 42,000 bullet proof jackets for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for use in counter-terrorist operations in the Kashmir Valley and anti-Naxal operations in various States, reports Times of India.

It should be noted that the new bullet proof jackets sanctioned for the jawans weigh as much as 40 per cent lighter than the older jackets which used to weigh around 7-8 kilograms each. Also, these provide enhanced protection to vital body parts like neck and groin areas.

In addition to the bullet proof jackets, a total of 176 medium bullet-proof vehicles have also been sanctioned for the CRPF jawans, each of which can seat about 5-6 armed personnel. These vehicles can withstand grenade attacks, gun shots and other such dangerous attacks.

Apart from these, the CRPF has also armour-plated at least 80 four-wheeler Gypsy vehicles already used by it to provide special protection to the troops in Kashmir Valley while moving around.

It should be noted that CRPF is the nation's largest paramilitary force and it functions directly under the administration of MHA. It has about 3.25 lakh personnel under its emblem and has about 70 battalions deployed in Kashmir Valley in addition to 70 others which have been deployed in Let Wing Extremism hit States.

 
Red tape comes in way of ITBP getting choppers

Abhinandan Mishr

Abhin-ITBP-choppers-edited.jpg


The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has been seeking helicopters for itself for more than 20 years now.

New Delhi: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which is tackling the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces along with the Indian army at India’s Eastern border, has been seeking helicopters for itself for more than 20 years now, but hasn’t yet got them, mostly due to bureaucratic apathy that is not uncommon among the corridors of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Officials aware of the development told The Sunday Guardian that the plan (for the ITBP to have helicopters) was conceived in the late 1990s and the process was started soon after; however, till now, not even one helicopter has been operationalised.
“After a lot of moving of files, from one place to another, in 2013, a tender was first floated for twin engine helicopters that could carry 10 passengers or 1.5 tonne of weight to high altitudes. Then, revised tenders were floated. For the last 4-5 years, the ITBP has been told that the plan is the ‘final phase’,” an official said.
The last such promise was made by Minister of state for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy, who in October last year, stated that the process to get two helicopters for ITBP on wet-lease was in the “last stage”. Under a wet lease contract system, the organisation or person who owns the aircraft provides the aircraft as well as the crew members to the lessee (in this case the ITBP) and also takes care of the maintenance of the aircraft.
Officials on Friday confirmed to The Sunday Guardian that despite almost eight months after Reddy’s statement, the ITBP still did not have a single helicopter of its own at its disposal.
Out of approximately 90,000 ITBP personnel, close to 15,000 or 1/6 of its total troops, are deployed at a height of more than 9,000 feet and it is to help these 15,000 plus troops in time of medical emergencies that the helicopters are missed the most.
The officials said that as of now, ITBP’s helicopter needs are met by BSF and IAF, who in many cases, due to genuine reasons, are not able to provide the same at a short notice.
The ITBP, which guards 3,488 km of the Indo-China border, has a total 56 battalions out of which 32 are deployed in border guarding, 11 in internal security, eight in anti-Naxal Operations (ANO) and five are reserved for rest and recuperation.
As per a Parliamentary standing committee report on the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2018, the housing satisfaction level in ITBP was 13.41% which was one of the lowest among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) with the organisation facing a shortfall of 16,537 residential quarters for its officials.
More alarmingly, in 82% of the BoPs (border operating posts), drinking water was obtained from rivulets and springs which were found to be highly polluted. The committee had also found that the ITBP was facing vacancies of eight Specialist Medical officers and 93 Medical Officers which it had termed “quite alarming”.

Red tape comes in way of ITBP getting choppers

Abhinandan Mishr

Abhin-ITBP-choppers-edited.jpg


The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has been seeking helicopters for itself for more than 20 years now.

New Delhi: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which is tackling the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces along with the Indian army at India’s Eastern border, has been seeking helicopters for itself for more than 20 years now, but hasn’t yet got them, mostly due to bureaucratic apathy that is not uncommon among the corridors of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Officials aware of the development told The Sunday Guardian that the plan (for the ITBP to have helicopters) was conceived in the late 1990s and the process was started soon after; however, till now, not even one helicopter has been operationalised.
“After a lot of moving of files, from one place to another, in 2013, a tender was first floated for twin engine helicopters that could carry 10 passengers or 1.5 tonne of weight to high altitudes. Then, revised tenders were floated. For the last 4-5 years, the ITBP has been told that the plan is the ‘final phase’,” an official said.
The last such promise was made by Minister of state for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy, who in October last year, stated that the process to get two helicopters for ITBP on wet-lease was in the “last stage”. Under a wet lease contract system, the organisation or person who owns the aircraft provides the aircraft as well as the crew members to the lessee (in this case the ITBP) and also takes care of the maintenance of the aircraft.
Officials on Friday confirmed to The Sunday Guardian that despite almost eight months after Reddy’s statement, the ITBP still did not have a single helicopter of its own at its disposal.
Out of approximately 90,000 ITBP personnel, close to 15,000 or 1/6 of its total troops, are deployed at a height of more than 9,000 feet and it is to help these 15,000 plus troops in time of medical emergencies that the helicopters are missed the most.
The officials said that as of now, ITBP’s helicopter needs are met by BSF and IAF, who in many cases, due to genuine reasons, are not able to provide the same at a short notice.
The ITBP, which guards 3,488 km of the Indo-China border, has a total 56 battalions out of which 32 are deployed in border guarding, 11 in internal security, eight in anti-Naxal Operations (ANO) and five are reserved for rest and recuperation.
As per a Parliamentary standing committee report on the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2018, the housing satisfaction level in ITBP was 13.41% which was one of the lowest among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) with the organisation facing a shortfall of 16,537 residential quarters for its officials.
More alarmingly, in 82% of the BoPs (border operating posts), drinking water was obtained from rivulets and springs which were found to be highly polluted. The committee had also found that the ITBP was facing vacancies of eight Specialist Medical officers and 93 Medical Officers which it had termed “quite alarming”.



It is time we unify the BSF , ITBP and SSB into a single Border Guards unit. This way instead of creating 3 small airwings , they can have a consolidated single air wing. It will be more efficient and cost effective in everyway possible. Further for any modernisation effort it will reduce the red tape considerably.
 

New Border outposts along India-Bhutan border ready to add strength to SSB amid tension with China​

Sashastra Seema Bal has built 22 Border Out Posts (BoPs) allowing SSB to position at key locations near India-Bhutan Border. Now, SSB has multiple BoPs which are at more than 12,000 feet above the sea level.

SSB is deployed near key tri-junction (India-Bhutan-Tibet) and the BOPs will add strength to SSB. Tri-junctions are strategically important as the Indian Army, in 2017 had a long stand-off with Chinese Army there.

After these 22 BOPs, SSB is now close to achieving its sanctioned BOPs which is 734. Now, SSB has 722 BOPs and only 12 are left to be constructed.

"These new will give an edge to SSB's strength in border areas, especially near the tri-junction. These new 22 posts have been built in record time and most of them are at India-Bhutan Border," a top SSB official told ANI.

Sources said that amid tensions at Line of Actual Control (LAC), the task of building these BoPs was done much faster than BoPs built in previous years.

"Now, 12 BoPs are left which are to be built in top heights to complete total sanctioned BoPs. Most of these 12 BoPs are at India- Bhutan Border and will be built where the temperature goes in minus degree like Ladakh," the official added.

Amid tensions with China at LAC, SSB has not diverted even a single troop from key areas including Tri Junctions.
"Amid tension at LAC, we had decided not to divert even a single troop from these posts to any law and order duty. Also, if there was any shortage of any staff, have been filled. Currently, there is 100 per cent strength of SSB deployed in these areas," the SSB official said.

"We have been withdrawing jawans from other parts and rotating them for law and order duties as per the requirement sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The number of jawans deployed at key border areas will not be sent or reduced in future too," the official added. (ANI)
 

India to Get Radiation Detection Equipment at Borders to Check Radioactive Material Smuggling​

The Narendra Modi government has decided to install Radiation Detection Equipment (RDE) at all eight Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) on the country’s borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, to detect smuggling of radioactive materials.

This is an important move in light of the developing situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and follows a nearly two-year-long exercise by the government through a Request for Interest (RFI) issued by the government in 2020 to seek inputs on system requirements for such RDE globally, like what has been supplied by the US in Afghanistan.

A tender for installing RDE at all the eight ICPs on the borders has now been finally issued by the government last week. This Request for Proposal (RPE) document has been reviewed by News18, and it says the RDE should be installed within three months of an order being placed. This could mean an early 2022 deadline.


The government has said it intends to procure RDE to deter and detect illicit trafficking of radioactive materials across international borders. “It is vital to equip border crossings, Integrated Check Posts and Land Ports, since these may be used as smuggling routes for materials needed for a nuclear device or radiological dispersal device,” the document says. The idea is to facilitate safe and secure movement of trade across all its land ports as normal X-ray equipment is unable to detect radioactive material.

What will the RDE do?​

The ICPs at the borders regulate the entry and exit of passengers and goods. “For the purpose of further strengthening security of cargo movement across ICPs, Security agencies at the ICPs could use the RDE, which could be installed in a drive-through monitoring station that monitors trucks and their cargo. The equipment is capable of raising separate gamma and neutron radiation alarms and generating video frames of target object,” the document says.


The RDE will also have the ability to differentiate between “special nuclear material and naturally occurring radiation in fertilizer or ceramics as well as high-energy gamma isotopes which are an attribute of recycled uranium”, the document adds. The bids will open next month and government has sought them from agencies who have commissioned at least 20 drive-through RDEs in the last five years abroad and set up the maintenance systems in the country.

The RDE will be installed at the ICPs at Attari (Pakistan border), Petrapole, Dawki, Agartala and Sutarkani (Bangladesh Border), Moreh (Myanmar border) and Raxaul and Jogbani (Nepal border).