NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: In a major initiative to improve internal security along India’s eastern borders, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is initiating a specialised recruitment drive to meet the challenge of increasing Rohingya migrant infiltration from Bangladesh. For the first time, the intelligence agency is proactively looking for candidates who know the Rohingya language, among others, to work as security assistants in vulnerable areas, particularly in Kolkata. The Home Ministry has invited applications for almost 5,000 posts of Security Assistants in the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau at 37 centres in the country.
As many as 298 posts are available in Kolkata alone, and those who know Bengali, Urdu, Nepali, Bhutani, Santhali, Sylheti, or Rohingya are being given preference. The idea is clear: to enhance ground-level intelligence capacity in areas experiencing problems of cross-border migration. This linguistic emphasis is a result of the immediate necessity of effective interaction with Rohingya migrants, the majority of whom speak a dialect not well known to most Indian bureaucrats. Improved communication while questioning, as well as culturally sensitive intelligence collection, are now recognised as crucial mechanisms in coping with the fragile and intricate infiltration scenario along the West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura border states. The online recruitment process for the recruitment campaign will start on July 26, and close on August 17. The selected candidates will be employed at Group C Central Services on the Level-3 pay scale, and their salaries will be between Rs 21,700 and Rs 69,100. This move comes at a time when security forces are trying to understand the ramifications of regional instability. In recent reports issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), approximately 1.5 lakh Rohingyas have escaped Myanmar in just 18 months, taking refuge in bordering nations. Bangladesh is hosting more than 10 lakh refugees in Cox’s Bazar camps, among whom numerous ones are now entering Indian borders—many times illegally. Adding to the complexities of the situation are serious reports that extremist groups and foreign intelligence agencies are seeking to take advantage of these migration paths.