India’s largest central armed police force with a strength of 3.25 lakh jawans, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is also among the world’s largest armed police forces.
Be it Naxalism or terrorism, you will find the CRPF dealing with it all. The job of the CRPF is not restricted to combating these challenges but it also has a wing to protect VVIPs such as Home Minister Amit Shah, the Gandhi family and other dignitaries.
The force, which is unique in many aspects, also includes a specialised anti-terror wing — QAT — and an anti-Naxals unit — CoBRA. It also guards Parliament and has the largest number of ‘Mahila’ (women) battalions who have recently been inducted to fight with Naxals. Additionally, the CRPF has a dedicated anti-riot force named the Rapid Action Force (RAF), often considered a nightmare for rioters.
One of the most decorated forces, the CRPF remains on top when it comes to bagging gallantry medals. Its jawans have been awarded the maximum numbers of medals and some officers have received one of the most prestigious medals — the Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) — more than a dozen times. The force, which started with just two battalions during the British era, has grown to become the largest paramilitary force with 246 battalions now.
History
The CRPF was originally constituted as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, which makes it one of the oldest central paramilitary forces (now termed the Central Armed Police Force). During its initial days, CRPF’s main job was to protect British residents in various states and it was after 10 years that their role was changed.
After Independence, the force got a new name — Central Reserve Police Force — through an Act passed in Parliament on December 28, 1949. The Act constituted the CRPF as an armed force of the Union and on March 25, 1955, VG Kanetkar was appointed the first DG of the CRPF.
For the first few years after Independence, contingents of the CRPF were sent to Kutch, Rajasthan and Sindh borders to keep an eye on infiltration and other trans-border crimes. In 1959, CRPF was deployed at the Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir following attacks by Pakistani infiltrators.
The force also had a clash with Chinese troops on October 21, 1959, when a small CRPF patrol was ambushed by the Chinese in Hot Springs in which 10 of its men made the supreme sacrifice for the country. Their martyrdom on October 21 is remembered across the country as Police Commemoration Day every year.
A few years after the incident, during the Chinese aggression in 1962, the force assisted the Indian Army in Arunachal Pradesh. Eight CRPF personnel were killed in action. In 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, the CRPF fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Indian Army on the two borders — Western and Eastern. After fighting with Pakistan, in the late 70s, the force was sent to deal with extremist groups in North-eastern states.
Structure and Strength
The force is headed by an IPS officer at the Director General level. After the DG, Special Director Generals and Additional Director Generals are at the second level. They head zones distributed into J&K, North-east, Central and Southern. Four other ADG or SDG-level officers look after operations, training, headquarters and academy and directly report to the DG. These officers head almost 40 IGs who also head sectors and specialised units like VVIP, CoBRA etc.
The force has a dedicated VIP wing to provide security to the dignitaries of the country and PDG or Parliament Duty Group to secure the Parliament campus. It also boasts of a special duty group to secure the residence of the Prime Minister.
Currently, there are 246 battalions, which include 203 executive, 5 VIP security, 6 Mahila, 15 RAF, 10 CoBRA, 5 Signal and 1 Special Duty Group, 1 Parliament Duty Group. The force also has 43 Group Centres, 22 Training Institutions, 4 Composite Hospitals of 100 beds, 18 Composite Hospitals of 50 beds and 6 Field Hospitals.
Story of Valour
The CRPF’s story of valour starts from 1959 when the troops faced ambush from Chinese men in Hot Springs on October 21, 1959, in the freezing cold with temperatures in minus. The CRPF lost 10 of its men in the attack.
The CRPF is all-terrain force. Thousands of kilometres away and after almost six years, the CRPF troops showed extraordinary bravery at Sardar Post in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, when they dealt with Pakistan.
In early 1965, four companies of CRPF were ordered to set up border posts in Rann of Kutch. On the intervening night of April 8 and 9, 3,500 men of the Pakistan Army launched operation ‘Desert Hawk’ against India. However, it was no match for the small but brave group of close to 150 CRPF men who stopped the Pakistani troops and eliminated 34 of their jawans.
After these two incidents, the CRPF remained active with Pakistan. In another instance showcasing their bravery, the jawans faced a challenging day on December 13, 2001, when a bunch of terrorists entered Parliament and began firing indiscriminately. Since the security of Parliament was in the hands of the CRPF, its jawans returned fire and all five militants were eliminated in the ensuing exchange that lasted for about 30 minutes. In the attack, a woman constable also sacrificed her life.
The force was called into action again on July 5, 2005, when the troops guarding the Ram Janmabhoomi area in Ayodhya eliminated five armed terrorists who were trying to enter the premises.
A total of 2,241 jawans of the CRPF have made the supreme sacrifice while protecting the country. The force has also been awarded the highest number of gallantry medals with 2,309 jawans receiving the honour. Officers and jawans have also been awarded the Ashok Chakra (the highest peacetime gallantry award), 10 Kirti Chakras, 35 Shaurya Chakras, and 202 President’s Police Medal for Gallantry.
Budget
The CRPF has been allocated the highest sum of Rs 29,324.92 crore in the current budget for year 2022-23. Since the force is the largest among all central armed police forces, the CRPF gains maximum budget allocation for all plans.
Training
The force has the highest number of training schools and academies for all levels. An ADG-level officer, who heads the CRPF Academy in Kadarpur, Haryana, looks after training.
With the growing complexity of security, the CRPF also continuously reviews the training curriculum. A trainee has to complete 52 weeks of training, which consists of firing training, while officers get lessons on IEDs in CRPF’s IED room. There is another level of training for commandos who have to train for months after clearing their physical tests. These commandos then get inducted in specialised units of the CRPF.
The training also includes jungle-survival techniques, combat fitness, IED counter measures, intelligence gathering. CRPF officers and jawans also get hands-on training to use sophisticated weapons such as MMG, AK-47 Assault Rifle, Light Machine Gun, 7.62 mm Light Machine Gun, X-95 Assault Rifles etc.
Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment