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North East : Centre for stronger police force to tackle insurgency

	March 07, 2005

Even though the troubled north east is passing through a period of relative calm since the beginning of 2005, it appears that the UPA Government at the Centre does not want to be complacent about the insurgency problem which has plagued the region for decades.

According to media reports, the Union Home Ministry is mulling a proposal to go in for 100 per cent central funding of the police modernisation scheme in most north-eastern states and double the grants provided for raising India Reserve Battalions

Sources said the Centre is revamping the funding pattern of India Reserve Battalions to include the cost of infrastructure as well, a move that will raise Delhi’s liability for every India Reserve Battalion from Rs 13 crore to Rs 25 crore.

Under the India Reserve Battalion scheme, the Centre allows states to raise armed police battalions and itself reimburses the initial cost of raising them. This, however, excludes the cost of land and buildings. Each state government subsequently bears the recurring expenditure.

Till 2003-04, the Union Home Ministry has sanctioned 24 India Reserve battalions, of which 15 battalions have already been raised. In 2004-05, four additional battalions were sanctioned, which are being raised now.

Only Assam, Manipur and Tripura are currently eligible for 100 per cent central assistance under the police modernisation scheme in the north-east. Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, on the other hand, receive 75 per cent central assistance; the state governments contribute the remainder.

Mizoram and Sikkim, which are peaceful states, are being kept out of the ambit of the upgraded police modernisation scheme.

Officials said the proposal was mooted following requests from states that referred to their inability to provide the contributions expected of them. An official said it was primarily owing to this reason that the north-eastern states, which enjoy a plan size of Rs 180 crore under this scheme, are actually allocated only Rs 96 crore. He blamed bureaucratic delays as the other reason.

The Union Home Ministry has already expanded the list of items that can be purchased by state governments to fulfil modernisation requirements of the police. Now, armoured vehicles that can withstand landmine blasts and infrastructure for strengthening the intelligence gathering and sharing mechanism are being included.

Sources said Home Minister Shivraj Patil was keen that central and state police forces get all the funds they need to upgrade weaponry, training and transport vehicles. He wants the police to have sophisticated communication equipment, helicopters and aircraft and anti-mine and infantry combat vehicles from the Medak Army ordnance factory.



CRPF to ease out Army

In a relative development, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is all set to replace the Army in counter-insurgency operations in the region by September this year.

Making the announcement at a news conference, CRPF Director-General J.K. Sinha said as many as 22 battalions of the force were at present undergoing special training for counter-insurgency duty. They are expected to be ready for deployment almost immediately after the completion of training in August.

The plan to replace the Army with the CRPF in the militancy-affected states of the region is in line with New Delhi’s one-force-one-task policy, which was adopted in the wake of the Kargil conflict.

The CRPF is at present engaged in counter-insurgency operations in Assam along with the army and the police. They operate together under a three-tier structure called the Unified Command and headed by the general-officer-commanding of the Tezpur-headquartered 4 Corps.

The paramilitary force has also been deployed along the disputed areas of the Assam-Nagaland border. It operates there as a “neutral force”.

Delhi recently sanctioned the creation of a new counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist training facility at Dayapur in Silchar on the lines of the Army’s Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairangte in Mizoram.

Sinha said the nucleus of the training facility had been formed already under the leadership of an officer of the rank of deputy inspector-general.



Infiltration down, says BSF chief

BSF director-general Ranjit Shekar Mushahary has claimed that infiltration from Bangladesh has come down significantly after fencing of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

“So far, 297.9 km of the international boundary has been fenced and work is progress on the 148.7 km stretch. Altogether, 491.1 km border will be fenced.” Mushahary said efforts are on to fence the Indo-Bangladesh border “wherever possible”. He was speaking to the media on the occasion of the appointment of 300 former BLT cadres in the BSF last week.