End your war, Assam Rifles pleads with Defence and Home ministries

The trouble is, Assam Rifles has two masters: while the administrative control of the force is under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), its operational control lies with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This means the MHA decides on the recruitment, pay, and infrastructure needs of the force, which is headed by a lieutenant general of the Indian Army.

On the other hand, the MoD, through the Army, takes calls on the force’s deployments, postings, transfers and other operational issues.

Also read: Over 700 paramilitary jawans died by suicide in last 5 years: Home Ministry

Tug of war

The unique structure hampers coordination and infringes on the rights of Assam Rifles personnel, a longstanding concern for the security establishment with no solution in sight.

A Group of Ministers (GoM), formed to recommend measures to improve national security after the Kargil War, recommended in 2001 that the Assam Rifles be placed under the complete control of the MHA.

The MoD opposed the idea, citing concerns about the force's role in counter-insurgency operations and its historical ties to the Indian Army.

To take entire control of the force, the Home Ministry in 2018 mooted the proposal to merge the Assam Rifles with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, a proposal struck down by the Army.

Also read: Watch | Viral video shows standoff between insurgents, Assam Rifles in Manipur

Ongoing legal battle

Amidst the tug of war, the Assam Rifles Ex-servicemen Welfare Association (AREWA) moved the Delhi High Court to scrap the dual structure. The matter will again come up for hearing on July 9.

With the legal battle lingering for seven years now, the AREWA feels that it is imperative for the NSC to intervene and detangle the duality.

The Assam Rifles, which celebrated its 190th raising day on Monday (March 24), has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of guarding the India-Myanmar border since 2001. Besides, the force’s mandate is counter-insurgency operations and aiding civil authorities for maintenance of law and order in specified area.

The dual structure poses dichotomies in the execution of its designated roles, claimed several officials associated with the force.

Sore points

The tussle becomes more prominent in discharging its border guarding responsibilities. Approximately one-third of its 46 battalions, excluding the National Disaster Relief Force battalions, are deployed in roles guarding the border.

This means that each battalion has the responsibility of guarding roughly 100 km of the mountainous 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar Border (IMB). In contrast, a BSF battalion covers approximately 40 km of Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders, which are mostly in the plain, providing better mobility and visibility.

“There is a constant tussle between the demand for troops to guard the IMB and the troop requirement for anti-insurgency operations. This is a sore point between the MoH and MoD, read the Army. While the MHA wants more units to be deployed along the border, the Army feels given the operating environment there needs to be a balance with a bias towards more troops in the hinterland for counter insurgency operations,” Lt Gen (retd) HJS Sachdev, former Director General of the Assam Rifles, told The Federal.

Another sore point Sachdev flagged is that the MHA expects the units to be deployed along the border outposts, while the army believes in operating from company operating bases which are not necessarily located all along the border.

Less time for training

Most of the Assam Rifles battalions, though, are engaged in difficult counter insurgency operations. Its jawans don't have peace-time or 'soft' postings unlike regular Army personnel. Moreover, continuous active operations also mean less time for training.

The dual structure also impacts the coordination of training schedules.

It is the responsibility of the Director General Assam Rifles (DGAR) to arrange the training schedules. The DGAR is under the MHA, though it is headed by an Army officer. But making manpower available for the training is the prerogative of the Army, which has operational control of the force. There is a constant tug of war to find a meeting point.

The Assam Rifles has taken part in World War I & II and the 1962 Sino-India war. It was also involved in the peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka. Besides the north-eastern states, the Assam Rifles battalions are also deployed in Jammu and Kashmir operating alongside the Army. It has earned around 80 gallantry awards.

Also read: Manipur: 6 soldiers injured as Assam Rifles jawan fires at them before killing himself

Pay structure and benefits

The personnel of the force perform similar duties as that of an army, their pay structure and benefits are generally comparable to those of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) under the MHA.

“We are neither here nor there. We neither get the benefits of the army nor the CAPF,” said Tulsi Nair, AREWA president.

There is a difference of around ₹20-25 thousand in the pension of a retired subedar in the Assam Rifles and the Indian army, Nair, who retired as subedar from Assam Rifles in 2002, told The Federal.

At the same time, the Assam Rifles personnel are denied the benefits enjoyed by the members of other paramilitary forces, he added.

In other paramilitary forces, a jawan is eligible to fill the officer-cadre departmental post after three years of continuous service. But an Assam Rifles personnel needs to wait for 13 years to apply for the departmental officer post as per the policies of the defence ministry, he pointed out.

Question of national security

The AREWA earlier this month wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval seeking the national security council secretariat’s intervention to resolve the issue of dual control “within reasonable time as concerned ministries have failed to arrive at a consensus to find a solution to the problem.”

Stating that the issue pertains to 'national security', the AREWA urged the prime minister to refer the issue to the national security council secretariat, headed by the NSA, for quick redressal.

AREWA's key demand is that the Assam Rifles be placed under the complete control of the MoD.