Raising 20 ITBP battalion to facilitate its use in counter-insurge

New Delhi, Jan 12 (UNI) The raising of additional 20 battalions of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) yesterday, will facilitate rotation of ITBP personnel from high altitudes in Himalayas to lower locations.

With the additional battalions in place, as against the present tenure of nearly 27 years out of a service span of 35 years, an ITBP Jawan will have to serve only 17-18 years at high altitude.

The raising of additional battalions will also increase opportunities for training and recuperation of ITBP personnel. The troops can also be deployed for counter-insurgency and internal security duties keeping them battle ready.

The raising will also give gainful employment to the youth, especially of hilly border and militancy-affected areas. The process will be completed in three years, i.e., by March, 2010 and 60 per cent of the recruitment will be done on pro-rata population basis from all the States, 20 per cent from hilly border areas and the remaining 20 per cent from militancy-affected areas.

The ITBP currently has 25 battalions, manning the 3488 kilometers of the Indo-China border from the Karakoram Pass in Laddakh to Diphu La in Arunachal Pradesh. With only about one third of the Border Out Posts connected by road and 80 per cent of the force located at high altitudes, ITBP personnel were exposed to health hazards, arising out of continuous high-altitude deployment in the most adverse and inhospitable climatic conditions.

UNI