Rajnath Singh in Jharkhand thanks army, para-military forces for ensuring peaceful sleep for citizens

Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday thanked the Indian armed forces, central armed paramilitary forces (CAPFs) such as the Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Rapid Action Force for helping the people of India sleep in peace — the forces, he said, did so by ensuring internal security and by fighting external enemies in areas dominated by left-wing extremism and the terrorist menace in Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh addressed the dedication ceremony for residential and other infrastructure facilities built at various states of India for personnel of the CAPFs, the National Disaster Response Force, the Land Port Authority of India, and Central Forensic Science Laboratories. The minister dedicated 317 newly built quarters for RAF 106 battalion posted at Sundernagar in Jamshedpur, in the presence of Union ministers of state for home Hansraj Ahir and Kiren Rijiju.

“It was only because of the sacrifices and dutifulness of the CAPFs and the state police forces concerned that I can say today that the Naxalite extremism has shown an 85% decline across the country, when compared to the situation in 1997. The excellent co-ordination and feedback provided by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have played a key role in achieving this success,” said Singh.

The primary condition for development, he said, was having a secure environment across the state, and this had been ensured in an effective manner by the three wings of armed forces along with CAPFs in the past four-and-a-half years. “This is the reason they’ve succeeded in winning the trust of the people. This is the result of your sacrifices and dutifulness. Our government has always been committed to improving the quality of life of our jawans; the chain of infrastructure projects inaugurated today is a step in that direction,” said Singh.

This was only a little part of what he and his colleagues in the Union home ministry wanted to do for the forces and their families, said Singh. Citing some other steps, he said, “We have sanctioned the raising of 10 IRB battalions (India Reserve Battalion) in states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, and Mizoram, in addition to raising 40 IRB battalions across the country. We have also sanctioned three women’s battalions in CRPF and 20 women’s battalions in SSB,” said Singh.

He reminded the gathering of the government’s decision to sanction air travel for CAPFs to and from Jammu and Kashmir; on-duty status for jawans undergoing treatment in hospitals after being injured in operation; and issuance of operational casualty certificates (OCCs) to CAPF jawans, just like Army personnel. “Families of martyred jawans will now get Rs 1 crore assistance, thanks to a scheme like Bharat Ke Veer. We’re also working on ensuring proper and higher education of the children of martyrs, and the Sarojini Damodaran Foundation has already given scholarships to 1,600 such children,” added Singh.