Beating the Rhetoric
The paramilitary forces of the nation play a crucial role in nation building and protecting the frontiers of the nation from both the internal and external threats. And one of the most foundational and pivotal role towards this is played by the Border Security Force or the BSF for short.
The BSF, established on December 1, 1965 is one of the largest border guarding forces of the world. Since its inception it has kept India’s borders safe and secure. It has played pivotal a role in maintaining peace and security across borders and provided assistance to maintenance of law and order within the nation whenever called for. Not only has it stood in the borders and defended the nation during Kargil War, it has also helped in counterinsurgency operations in Manipur. It was the first force to reach Gujarat after the devastating earthquake in Bhuj. The peacetime record of the force has been immaculate as well which is signalled by the fact that a large contingent of the force is sent to UN Peacekeeping Missions every year. Other forces like Assam Rifles , Coastal Security, SSB too play pivotal roles in protecting the borders of the nation.
However with changing times it has become important to equip the forces with latest weapons and also ensure capacity building of the force. It is in this regard that the Standing Committee on Home Affairs recently submitted a report on “Border Security: Capacity Building and Institutions”. The report contains measures which would not only strengthen and augment the skills of the forces guarding the borders but also work towards securing the borders and internal security of the nation. Major recommendations made by the Committee are elucidated below.
The first and the most crucial component of border security is the condition of the Border Outposts. The Committee noted various issues with border infrastructure, such as outposts, fencing and floodlighting. It recommended that the proposal to construct 509 outposts must be followed expeditiously since it would allow for inter-border outpost distance to be reduced to 3.5 km. All old border outposts especially in the Indo Bangladesh border must be completed on an urgent basis. Since the Indo Bangladesh border is a critical issue there is an urgent need to complete the same.
The Committee also commented that the pace of border fencing along the India-Bangladesh border was not progressing on expected levels and it must be ensured that the fencing sticks to the deadline. The Committee observed that the fencing in the Thar Desert region had proved to be ineffective because of the shifting sand dunes. It asked for a technical expert committee to be set up to examine all solutions, such as the fencing used along the US-Mexico border.
The second most important issue relates to the question of road connectivity. The Committee noted that some border areas had poor road connectivity and road projects were being delayed. This includes areas in Jammu, Punjab, and along the India-China and Nepal borders. It stated that the Border Roads Organisation was ill-equipped to implement these projects, and recommended that a joint venture with a private company be set up to carry out such construction.
The third important question relates to the question of jawans guarding the borders. The Committee observed that the Assam Rifles was not a dedicated border guarding force for the India-Myanmar border. It recommended that the government finalise a dedicated force for this border. The Committee also found that due to shortage of personnel, jawans across border guarding forces perform 16-18 hours of duty in a day. It recommended that this system be changed, such that jawans perform two shifts of 4 hours each with a gap of 8 to 10 hours in between. Yet one must keep in mind that falling recruitment is not a problem of the AR or the BSF alone rather across all military and para- military forces such numbers are visible. The situation is far worse in the Army which has been suffering from shortage of officers for some time now.
On the question of Coastal Security the Committee noted that phase II of the Coastal Security Scheme had not been completed by March 2016 as per the target. It recommended that it be completed at the earliest. Under the scheme, various coastal states are to be outfitted with marine police stations, jetties, boats, vehicles, etc. Further, it expressed displeasure regarding non-implementation of its recommendations from the 177th Report on the scheme.
The new world has thrown new challenges in the form of Counter Intelligence. The Committee observed that there is no single unified authority to coordinate the operations of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau, Multi-Agency Centre and National Security Guard. It noted that a notification had been issued for setting up of the National Centre for Counter Terrorism (NCTC) in 2012, but it had been kept in abeyance because of federalism-related concerns expressed by states. It recommended that the notification be re-issued to revive the NCTC as the nodal counter-terrorism agency.
On the question of intelligence the Committee observed that while implementation of the NATGRID project was approved in November 2013, it was still in its nascent stage. It noted that though the project is to be operational by September 2018, there will only be minimal data sharing and basic analytics by that date. It also stated that the infrastructure for the project must be put in place and the process kickstarted so that NATGRID can act as the crucial data centre to combat all forms of terrorism.
The Committee also highlighted some issues with regard to the Multi-Agency Centre, which facilitates sharing of intelligence across central agencies and states. It noted that there is a low contribution of state agencies in the overall inputs received, and recommended that the bottlenecks be assessed.
The Committee expressed concern regarding new denomination fake currency notes being recovered from the border areas. It observed that no measures had been taken to replace the detection machines available with the border guarding forces to make them compatible with the new denomination notes. It asked the government to formulate a strategy to disrupt smuggling of fake notes through land and coastal borders.
This report has come at a time when India is indeed battling numerous battles on both external and internal fronts. It is important to address the concerns and work towards the solutions so that emerging threats can be countered effectively.
(Views expressed by the author are personal)