The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) may soon get to play an active role in anti-militancy operations with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) today approving creation of 20 new battalions for the force. The new battalions will be raised over the next three years, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after the meeting.The immediate objective of increasing the strength of the force is to provide relief to its personnel, most of whom spend 28 years of a 35-year service posted at high altitude, mostly along the mountainous Indo-China border. Official sources, however, said the Union Home Ministry was also looking at plans to use the ITBP to combat militancy, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir and some Naxal-infested states. A concrete plan is expected to be worked out in the next few months.“More numbers will also help us give shape to a proper rotation policy, with personnel spending more time on the plains. Right now, our ratio is almost the exact reverse of how it is in the Army,” a senior officer pointed out. Concern has been expressed at the impact of prolonged high-altitude posting on the morale and health of personnel. Personnel are deployed at heights ranging from 9,000 to 18,000 feet on border guarding duties along 3,488 km of the India-China border from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Diphu La in Arunachal Pradesh.The force, which has 25 battalions at the moment, had sought 22 new battalions. It had also asked for seven Advanced Light Helicopters for logistics support along the border.
