NEW DELHI, Apr 9: The government has put on hold a proposed policy of BSF to replace a section of its battalions deployed along Pakistan and Bangladesh borders after a number of commanders on the field protested the move.
Union Home Secretary R K Singh recently issued directions to the BSF headquarters in this regard after the step created a flutter among the personnel of the paramilitary force.
The Home Ministry will soon review the proposal and issue final orders, pending which earlier orders are kept on hold, a senior official privy to the development said.
The move pertains to a last year order of the BSF headquarters whereby for the first time in the history of the 48-year-old force, a percentage-based changeover of battalions from its frontiers located along Pakistan and Bangladesh and other formations in the country was mooted.
According to the new proposal, half of the personnel of a battalion deployed in ‘extra hard’ areas (border formations) will have to be transferred annually, changing from the earlier mode of replacing the entire battalion with a new one.
The order has made field commanders wary as the concept to replace a full battalion was made in order to ensure the cohesiveness, character and fighting capabilities of the unit intact in times of peace and war.
“The decision, if implemented would have changed the character of the force forever. In times of war or aggression, half of the force personnel would be trying to understand the habits, traits and intelligence of the other half which is crucial for a dare devil strike,” a senior BSF officer commanding a forward unit along Pakistan had said in his submission against this move.
The earlier BSF order also highlights the cohesiveness factor as it says that the existing system had advantages of “regimentation and close kinship” in the early years of the raising of the force.
It, however, says the new system is being introduced as the “social fabric” has changed in present times and “stress factor” among troops need to be reduced. (PTI)
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