ITBP puts into operation one command each in C’garh, Guwahati

As the standoff between the armed forces of India and China continues at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) has operationalised its newly sanctioned commands in Chandigarh and Guwahati for better supervision of troop deployment.

The cabinet had, in October 2019, approved two new commands -- the Western Command at Chandigarh and Eastern Command at Guwahati -- to be headed by an additional director general (ADG) rank officer in the ITBP.

In an order issued on June 3, ITBP director general S S Deswal said: an “imperative need is felt to make these establishments functional immediately”. Inspector general (operations) M S Rawat will take over charge of the western command in Chandigarh with immediate effect “in the capacity of ADG”, the order said.

Another IG rank officer will soon head the Guwahati-based eastern command, an official said. The commands will streamline operations, intelligence, deployment and administrative movements of ITBP personnel to the border regions and also bring better synergy with the army that secures the LAC, the officer added.

ITBP currently has no ADG rank officer posted with it so a decision was taken to deploy IG rank officers.

Officials said the recent standoff between Indian and Chinese forces in the Ladakh area and other parts of the LAC was a major reason for the quick initiation of the two commands.

The ITBP has recently augmented its strength at the border posts owing to the standoff with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

There are three ADG posts in the force at present and none is occupied as the Delhi high court has ordered a stay on the appointment of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to paramilitary or Central Armed Police Forces of the rank of inspector general and above.

While sanctioning the two commands on October 23, 2019, the Union cabinet had also sanctioned about 60 posts of officer ranks in the force.

The western command will have control over ITBP deployments in the Dehradun-based Northern Frontier that includes the Shimla, Dehradun and Bareilly sectors, and the North-West Frontier, which was shifted from Chandigarh to Leh in April last year and includes the Srinagar and Ladakh sectors. The ITBP Leh frontier is headed by an inspector general-rank officer who is equivalent to a major general of the army.

The ADG rank officer is equivalent to a lieutenant general in the army.

Leh also houses the XIV Corps of the Army that was raised in the aftermath of the 1999 Kargil war.

The eastern command will look after ITBP deployment in the northern frontier and the north-eastern frontier.

The ITBP is trained for mountain warfare and its troops were present along with the army during the recent standoff with Chinese forces in the Ladakh area. It undertakes short-range and long-haul patrols along the LAC as part of its mandate to guard the icy Himalayan front marred by incidents of transgressions between the two countries due to differing perception of the border region.