One-third of our officers will be women: ITBP chief

The desire to have women in combat positions has now moved beyond the military to the central police organizations. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has decided to have women officers recruited directly on the supervisory positions. The para-military organization’s Director-General Krishna Choudhary said on Tuesday women officers in supervisory officers rank - assistant commandments as well – would be recruited to lead the battalions.

Talking to reporters at the ITBP headquarters in the national capital, Choudhary said that one-third ITBP will  comprise of women officers. They will serve the nation on border posts alongside men in extreme climate conditions of China and Sikkim. In fact, 500 newly recruited women officers are already under training by ITBP.

The border force plans to deploy three more battalions in the Naxal belt by next year. Presently, five battalions are posted in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh. There are 1,000 officers in a battalion. That way, the ITBP will have 8,000 officers deployed in the Naxal-affected areas by next year.

Speaking of the situation at the India-China border, Choudhary said there were no problems on either side of the fence. He added that whatever differences arise, they are due to “difference of perception”.

“We should not become war- mongers. We are there on the border to guard, not to fight,” he said. ITBP will soon have 40 more border posts and 12 staging camps in eastern sector of the border, primarily in Arunachal Pradesh. The force has also procured 4,830 night vision devices worth Rs 81 crore for its operations on the border. 

The force will also have solar power run centrally heated posts on borders which are extremely cold and make it tough to work. These border posts will be operational by next year.