All requests by various states asking for battalions of the central paramilitary force are now being vetted on strong reasoning, jointly by the Union home ministry and CRPF headquarters, before detachments are sent.
The government has decided to 'rationalise and restrict' the deployment of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on frequent requests of states in order to maintain the sanctity of the 'reserve' component of the force by keeping troops under compulsory training and rest.
The decision will now make arbitrary requisitioning of CRPF contingents by states and Union Territories tough.
All requests by various states asking for battalions of the central paramilitary force are now being vetted on strong reasoning, jointly by the Union home ministry and CRPF headquarters, before detachments are sent.
There have been almost ten instances in the recent past have when the required number of CRPF contingents were rationalised and reduced by nearly 30% before being sent for duties, sources said.
About 180 companies of the CRPF (about 18,000 personnel) have been placed under compulsory rotational training now and they will not be deployed for any internal security-related duty in the country till they finish their regime.
"It has now been made clear by the Union home ministry that the training companies of the force should be left untouched till they complete their training period. Training of the companies and rest for the personnel had become a difficult task since the force was deployed very frequently for law and order related duties," CRPF sources said.
The sanctity of training has to be respected, they added.
Union home minister P Chidambaram while officiating at a CRPF function last year had said that the word 'reserve' is no longer true for the force as it moves from one deployment to the next assignment on a short-notice to render 'innumerable duties'.
According to the CRPF charter, the force was raised as an armed force with the basic role of 'striking reserve' to assist the states and Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency. The force, since almost about a decade, has been involved in anti-naxal operations.
Unlike other paramilitary forces like BSF, ITBP and SSB having a specific role, the CRPF was the only force left to be called for tackling internal security and law and order problems. Lack of training and rest were resulting into tiredness and disorientation among the force personnel and hence this rule has been made now, sources said.
The home minister, last year, had also said that one company in each battalion has to be on training essentially and to keep this as rule, rational and restricted deployment of force has to be done, they said.
"Today as I speak to you, out of the 186 executive battalions (of CRPF), 186 companies are under training. We have made it a rule that one company in any Battalion shall at any time be under training and be given rest and recuperation," Chidambaram said on April 9 last year, while speaking at the Valour Day of the force here.
The CRPF, with almost 210 operational battalions (2.10 lakh personnel) now, is also fast expanding its training infrastructure to meet the demand of training the regular personnel and also to cater to new recruits.
Ten battalions of the force have also been earmarked as exclusive 'law and order' units and more such battalions would be identified looking at the extensive charter of duties of CRPF in this domain.
A separate lot of exclusive battalions to deal with Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is also proposed, sources added.
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