assam: MHA to brief house panel about Assam Rifles role and work

New Delhi: The Union dwelling ministry will present particulars on the function and functioning of the Assam Rifles (AR) earlier than a parliamentary panel on Could 25, publish the 75% discount in areas below the Armed Forces Particular Powers Act (AFSPA) within the North East, the place they had been deployed.

This would be the first assembly after Congress chief and Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi was appointed chairman of the standing committee, following the retirement of INC chief Anand Sharma.

As a part of the anti-insurgency grid, AR additionally enjoys safety below the controversial AFSPA and has come below criticism for alleged misuse of energy. The outcry following the botched up operation in Nagaland final 12 months compelled the Union authorities in April to scale back the AFSPA from a number of elements of the North East, together with 23 districts in Assam and partially from seven districts in Nagaland, six districts in Manipur, and one district in Assam.

Assam Rifles is among the many six central armed police forces (CAPFs) below the executive management of the union dwelling ministry and has a sanctioned power of 66,412 personnel cut up into 46 battalions. Nevertheless, its operational management rests with the Indian Military which reviews to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The AR has been deployed within the North-Japanese states in a counter-insurgency function and in addition guards the India-Myanmar border, which is unfold alongside a size of 1,631 km.

In the course of the dialogue with MPs, the house ministry is probably going to supply particulars concerning recruitment of girls in Assam Rifles. The variety of ladies recruitment in AR is alleged to be abysmally low that mandated a quota of 33% introduced by the Union authorities. As per MHA officers, AR has been given approval for the formation of 5 extra battalions that will likely be deployed in insurgency inclined areas of North East. Two battalions of AR are stationed in Jammu and Kashmir and one NDRF battalion, which is pressed into motion throughout pure calamities within the hill states of J&Ok and Himachal Pradesh.

The border guarding pressure was additionally granted powers below the Narcotics Medication and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act. In December final 12 months, the battalions of AR seized narcotics estimated to be value over ‘500 crore. “Narco-terrorism is a serious supply of finance for the Indian terrorist teams primarily based in Myanmar and has umbilical twine linkages with different gamers within the Golden Triangle that additionally consists of Thailand and Laos,” defined an official.