CAPF and Internal Security

One of the key constructs of the Governments anti-naxal strategy is to kick start economic and industrial activity in the region through revival of closed industries, bringing in fresh investments and importantly providing security to those industries struggling to survive. As a considerable number of the country’s mines fall in the LWE districts, the government is also faced with the responsibility of ensuring their continued functioning as it affects economic activity elsewhere in the country. The security of mines and forest-based industries, which form a significant portion of industrial activity in these states, when viewed along with the terrain and infrastructure constraints, pose major challenges to the security forces  resulting in deployment of  higher force levels.

Given the Maoist strategy towards infrastructure development in these areas, the creation, up gradation and maintenance of development related infrastructure requires security cover to proceed. The Central Government is planning to construct about 1200 Km of roads this year in LWE districts after securing each section and putting it under security cover. The Railway ministry too has asked for deployment of CAPFs in the Rajhara-Rowghat area of Chhattisgarh, where 95 km of rail line is to be laid connecting the nearby industrial belt. In response, MHA has deployed three battalions of BSF to provide security. The prevailing conditions in LWE-affected states, which render private security agencies ineffective for installation security, have resulted in demands for additional security forces with improved equipment profile even for non-operational tasks.

In the time dimension, long drawn out insurgencies are known to result in upward spiralling of lethality of weapons and equipment of the opposing forces, refinement and innovation in tactics employed, specialisation of the security forces, and proliferation of violence in the society (due to availability and experience in handling of high calibre weapons combined with poor law and order situation).As the Maoist insurgency continues to drag on, response of the various actors in LWE affected states of the country has been no different.

State Police forces in LWE affected states have spawned specially trained commando units; Greyhounds in AP, Koya in Chhattisgarh, KNF in Karnataka and the RAF and CoBRA battalions of the CRPF to name a few. CRPF, the major component of the CAPFs engaged in anti-naxal operations in LWE districts, besides upgrading the equipment and armament profile of its CoBRA battalions, has requested the MHA for a wide range of high technology equipment. The list includes robotic arms for bomb disposal, software defined radios, portable exchanges, direction finders, mobile phone locator, satellite tracker for detecting movement of troops and portable V-SAT terminal for communication. To that end, even the CISF which provides security to 51 installations in LWE-affected states has asked for anti-land mine and bullet proof vehicles for all its units.

Consequently, as the influence of the LWE increases in the region, the demand for ‘state-provided’ security is also increasing, quantitatively as well as qualitatively.

Financially though, there is a silver lining. The CISF, which provides security cover to 308 units including 58 domestic and international airports including atomic power plants, mines, oil fields, refineries etc., is a cost reimbursement force. Therefore expenditure on its deployment is reimbursed by the entity to which security is provided. In 2009-10, Rs. 3014.98 crore was reimbursed to the Central government on this account.

In the wake of increasing terrorist attacks in different parts of the country an ordinance was promulgated in January 2009 to amend   the CISF Act and enable CISF to provide security to the critical installations of national importance in private/joint sector also. CISF received requests from 128 private sector installations for deployment but as on date provides security to six of these.

Steel Authority of India, the country's largest steelmaker, went a step ahead and offered to fund the better equipped CRPF for giving protection to its personnel and equipment in Chhattisgarh. The offer, first such by a corporate entity in India, relates to the Company’s operations at its Greenfield Rowghat mine, located deep inside the forests of Chhattisgarh. The company reportedly allocated Rs 200 crores for the security cover. The CISF too in a similar vein, is looking at managements of the installations it secures to provide required gadgets and infrastructure facilities including anti-landmine vehicles and bullet proof vehicles for its operations.

The increasing demand for CAPFs and the impending developmental and operational need to create employment for the local youth has nudged the government to look at other options for the LWE-affected states in terms of raising of Territorial Army (TA) battalions and India Reserve Battalions (IRB).

Recently the MHA has seconded the Defence ministry’s proposal to raise Territorial Army (TA) battalions consisting of local tribal youth in Maoist-affected areas.  The MHA has recommended raising, on priority, three TA battalions instead of one battalion as suggested by the Defence Ministry in its initial proposal. These TA battalions are based on the army’s concept of ‘Home & Hearth battalions’. This measure will result in employment for over 3,000 tribal youth. MHA has asked the Defence ministry to target only key areas of worst Maoist-affected districts in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha for TA recruitment.

Central Government sanctions India Reserve Battalions (IRB) for raising by respective state governments. The Central Government reimburses to the state 75 percent of Rs 17.85 crores, which is the cost of raising one IRB. In addition it provides 50 percent of the infrastructure cost subject to a maximum of Rs 15 crores. Though the objective of the IRBs is to reduce the dependency of the States on CAPFs for internal security duties, they also generate employment through local recruitment. Till date 145 IRBs have been sanction to various states; of which seven have been sanctioned for Chhattisgarh and six each for Jharkhand and Odisha.

The enhanced security skills and paucity of trained manpower has pushed the corporate sector to innovate. Consequent to a Government security advisory in July this year, 115 personnel of Border Home Guards of Rajasthan were formally inducted at Cairn India's oilfields in Barmer; country’s largest inland oil reserves. These specially trained commandos of Border Home Guards are called ‘Thar Falcons’. Cairn India, which owns the oilfields, footed the bill for the two-month-long training which included anti-terrorism techniques at Rajasthan Police Training Centre, Jodhpur. Sources indicated that deployment of similar commando groups will be considered for Company’s other oil reserves.

Increased deployment of CAPFs and their specialisation in response to the heightened internal security assessments has been reflected at the national level also. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is considering a proposal to create an exclusive Aviation Security Force (ASF) to take over the responsibility of airport security from the CISF. While the February 2012 attack on an Israeli diplomat in the heart of the New Delhi has prompted setting up of a diplomatic protection force, which will be responsible for securing Indian missions abroad as well as embassies and missions of foreign countries stationed at home. The changing internal security perception in rest of the country too has had its effect on government resources. MHA has recently sanctioned more than 1,000 additional CISF personnel for providing security cover to various thermal power plants across the country. Even the Infosys facility in Mysore will get 54 additional CISF personnel after a security review.

When private installations in the heart of the country request for Government-provided security, it calls for a relook at our policy framework towards private security providers. In 2010-11, the central Government spent 44 per cent of its total budget for CAPFs and PMF on CRPF and CISF. For the next 2-3 years, 29 Battalions and command elements of the CRPF have been approved for raising. The burgeoning expenditure on the internal security structure demands a more comprehensive, innovative and cost effective approach from the Government than simply having more boots on ground.

By Monish Gulati in www.claws.in

Monish Gulati is a security analyst based in New Delhi