CAPFs – Challenges and Suggestions

Context: Four hundred and thirty-six personnel of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) died by suicide in the last three years and overall, 1,532 personnel died by suicide since 2011, according to data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to Parliament.

What are the Key highlights of the Data?

• According to the data provided by the MHA, “136 CAPF personnel died by suicide in 2022, 157 in 2021 and 143 in 2020. This year, 71 such deaths were reported”.
• Data also shows that the last three years saw the highest numbers of CAPF personnel dying by suicide than in any year over the past decade.
• In the last three years, maximum number of suicides were reported in the CRPF (154), while 111 suicides were from the BSF.
• “Among reasons for suicides, a task force by the MHA recorded extended working hours, inadequate time to rest and recreation, lack of job satisfaction as compared with their counterparts of other sectors, sense of isolation and lack of social as well as familial support, and lack of robust grievance redressal mechanism.”

What are the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)?

• Central Armed Police Forces is the collective name of central police organizations (CPOs) in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Background: These are technically paramilitary forces formerly known as Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF). Since 2011, India adopted the term “central armed police forces” to drop the word “paramilitary”.
  • A paramilitary force is an organization that operates similarly to a military force, but is not part of the regular armed forces of a country.
  • The Indian Armed Forces comprise of three divisions – Indian Army, Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force (under the management of the Ministry of Defence).

• Mandate of CAPFs: These forces are responsible for internal security and guarding the borders.
• Current CAPFs: There are 7 security forces in CAPF namely– Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Assam Rifles (AR), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guards (NSG) and Border Security Forces (BSF).

What are the various issues faced by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)?

• Working Conditions: The Standing Committee on Home Affairs in the year 2017 had expressed concern over the working conditions of personnel of the border guarding forces.
  • The Committee observed that they had to work 16-18 hours a day, with little time for rest or sleep.
  • The personnel were also not satisfied with medical facilities that had been provided at border locations.
  • In addition, the Standing Committee observed that personnel of the CAPFs have not been treated at par with the Armed Forces, in terms of pay and allowances.
• Poor Infrastructure: Lack of electricity at several installations of Border Out Posts (BOPs), seriously affects the working conditions of the personnel as well as operations of the CAPFs.
  • Also, there is an acute shortage of housing in the forces.
  • These affect the overall moral of the forces leaving them psychologically vulnerable. Often incidences of suicides and shooting down of the colleagues come in the light.
• Ineffective Coordination Between State Police and The CAPF Leadership: States are overdependent on the CRPF for maintaining various law and order situations. The continuous deployment of training companies affects the operational efficiency of the CRPF, as well as denies them training and rest.
• Vulnerability to attacks: The deployment levels of CRPF personnel are high and they are overstretched, leading to compromised training and vulnerability to attacks.
  • On February 14, 2019, a terror attack was carried out in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir by a suicide bomber resulting in the death of 40 CRPF personnel.
• Bureaucratization of the forces: Majority of the higher posts of the top hierarchy are filled by deputations (IPS officers), who most of the times failed to take adequate steps for the welfare of the cadre officers.
• Left Wing Extremism (LWE): Casualty of security forces in LWE affected areas are taking place due to mine blasts.  There is non-availability of technology to detect deeply planted mines.

Way forward

In 2018, a report by the Standing Committee on Home Affairs on ‘Working Conditions in Central Armed Police Forces’ has suggested the following recommendations:

• Ending IPS hegemony: The nature of duty of CAPF is more similar to that of the Armed Forces and it would make more sense to bring more officers from the Armed Forces on deputation. However, MHA has contested the same by justifying that the presence of IPS officers in every CAPF increases inter-departmental coordination between various CAPFS and State and therefore IPS officers are best suited to lead and provide supervisory directions to any CAPFs in an effective, efficient and impartial manner.
• Modernization of the Force must be given utmost priority as this Force not only has to face any enemy from across the border but also vagaries of nature.
• Issue specific Counter Plan rather than One-Size Fits All Approach:
  • For J&K: MHA should adopt a multi-pronged strategy that prevents youth from joining militancy, curbs their financing, and simultaneously launch counter-insurgency operations.
  • For Left Wing Area: MHA should make efforts to procure mine-resistant vehicles. This could be done through import or domestic manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ programme,
• Cadre Review: Expedite Cadre Review of these forces as it’s essential to maintain their organizational structure and ensures completion of project in a time-bound manner.
  • Joshi Committee recommended that top positions should be filled from the respective cadre of the CAPF.
• Setting up Dedicated Research and Development (R&D) Wing: It recommended that due to the unique issues faced by the CRPF, such as large size and areas of deployment, creation of a dedicated R&D unit of its own should be explored, to deal with issues peculiar to the CRPF such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and bullet proofing of vehicles.

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