50k paramilitary troopers to be hired in two years

Reeling under acute shortage of staff, the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) plans to hire 50,000 more troopers in the next two years.

Reeling under acute shortage of staff, the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) plans to hire 50,000 more troopers in the next two years.

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This addition, which is roughly 50 battalions, is expected to meet the current shortfall of about 26,000 men in the sanctioned strength of about 9 lakh. Official sources said the expansion of the CAPF is due to "heightened demands" as well as "rising expectations" from them since the last decade.

Of these, about 38 battalions are proposed to be raised by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with the rest to be divided among the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Security Force (BSF), documents assessed by HT reveal. At present, the biggest CAPF is the CRPF with 207 battalions.

Besides, the CAPF also include Assam Rifles, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the National Security Guard (NSG). Functioning under the Union home ministry, all these forces have distinct mandates ranging from insurgency, combating Maoists to guarding the border or protecting vital installations and undertaking surgical operations.

Maoist-affected states remain the main battleground for India’s paramilitary forces with about 38% of the total strength being deployed across these areas, followed by about 26% deployment in insurgency-affected Northeast and about 21% in Jammu and Kashmir.

Only 15% of the forces are deployed in other states. About 1,100 paramilitary companies operate in Maoist-affected states out of 2,862 companies. In the next four years, the government plans to spend R11,000 crore on the upgrade of the seven CAPFs.