New Delhi: In a bid to strengthen India’s grip on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the central government on Wednesday recruited 9,400 recruits for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to raise seven new border battalions along with the creation of a new operational base. Recruitment approved. Who guards the India-China border.
The proposal comes after days of ongoing tension along the India-China border reports Leh’s Superintendent of Police said that India has lost access to 26 of the 65 patrolling points – previously regularly patrolled by the Indian Security Forces (ISF) – in eastern Ladakh.
According to government sources, the new battalions are being prepared for deployment in 47 border outposts and 12 halt camps of ITBP being set up on LAC.
Presently ITBP has 176 border posts on LAC.
“The main task of ITBP is to guard the India-China border and to ensure that this is done effectively, the government had sanctioned 47 new border outposts and 12 camps in 2020. The work of setting up these camps is going on and we need more personnel for the same. The deployment of these new posts is the reason why it was decided to raise seven more battalions of ITBP in the region,” a source in the government told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“Apart from this, a sector headquarters will also be set up in the region to oversee these battalions and the entire exercise of setting up posts and headquarters will be completed by 2025-26,” the source said.
According to a government official on condition of anonymity, the creation of 47 new border posts will increase the manpower deployed at these posts by 26 per cent, while the induction of 9,400 new personnel will increase the strength of ITBP by 10 per cent. St.
The official said the proposal was approved during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference later in the day, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said a non-recurring expenditure of Rs 1,808.15 crore would be made on land acquisition, construction of office and residential buildings, besides purchase of arms and ammunition. The emphasis will be on procurement. No. with LAC. He said that an annual recurring expenditure of Rs 963.68 crore would be incurred on salary and ration for the additional manpower.
The ITBP – with a current strength of over 90,000 personnel – was raised in 1962 after the Chinese aggression and was tasked with guarding the 3,488-km-long LAC in the eastern part of India.
(Editing by Amritansh Arora)