Home Ministry keen to take over Assam Rifles

The ministry of home (MHA) has begun moves to wrest full administrative control of the Army-dominated Assam Rifles to make it a full fledged border guarding force in the league of BSF or the ITBP.

Now the Assam Rifles will be given full control of the Myanmar sector as a border guarding force.

Home minister Chidambaram had earlier put the condition that on the border — security of borders is under the MHA —  Assam Rifles will come under the MHA command. A cabinet note is now being readied to be sent to the cabinet committee on security that would fix the deployment of about 46 Assam Rifles battalions on the 1,631 km-long Indo-Myanmar border by creating 165 border outposts.

The step is expected to make the Union home ministry the administrative masters of the Assam Rifles.