New Delhi: To strengthen India’s hold on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the central government Wednesday sanctioned the hiring of 9,400 recruits for raising seven new border battalions, along with the construction of a new operational base for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) that guards the India-China border.
The proposal comes amidst ongoing tensions at the India-China border and days after a report by the Leh superintendent of police said India has lost access to 26 of 65 patrolling points — regularly patrolled by Indian Security Forces (ISFs) earlier — in eastern Ladakh.
According to government sources, the new battalions are being raised for deployment at the 47 border outposts and 12 staging camps of the ITBP being set up along the LAC.
At present, the ITBP has 176 border posts along the LAC.
“ITBP’s main task is to guard the India-China border and to ensure that it is done effectively, the government had sanctioned 47 new border outposts and 12 staging camps in 2020. Work to set up these camps is on and we require more personnel for deployment at these new posts. This is why a decision was made to raise seven more battalions of ITBP in the area,” a source in the government told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
The source added, “Besides this, for the supervision of these battalions, a sector headquarter will also be set up in the area and this entire exercise of setting up the posts and headquarters will be completed by 2025-26.”
According to a government official who did not wish to be named, the creation of 47 new border posts will lead to a 26 per cent increase in the manpower deployed at these bases, while the induction of 9,400 fresh personnel will enhance ITBP’s strength by 10 per cent.
The proposal, the officer said, was cleared during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference later in the day, I&B minister Anurag Thakur said a non-recurring expenditure of Rs 1,808.15 crore will be incurred on land acquisition, creation of office and residential buildings, besides procurement of arms and ammunition as part of the push for greater numbers along the LAC. A recurring annual expenditure of Rs 963.68 crore will be incurred on salaries and rations for the additional manpower, he added.
The ITBP — with a current strength of over 90,000 personnel — was raised in the aftermath of Chinese aggression in 1962 and tasked with guarding the LAC spanning 3,488 km on India’s eastern flank.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)