Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

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In news- In a first, ITBP commissioned its first two women officers in combat after they completed their training in Mussoorie.

Key updates

• The two women officers Prakriti and Diksha will be posted as company commanders in ITBP battalions.
• The ITBP started recruiting women combat officers in its cadre from 2016 through an all-India examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
• Women officers in the ITBP have previously served in the medical branch or on deputation from the Indian Police Service at the highest levels.

About the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)-

• ITBP was raised on October 24, 1962 for reorganizing the frontier intelligence and security set up along the Indo-Tibetan border.  
• It is one of the five central armed forces of India.
• ITBP was initially raised under the CRPF Act. 
• However, in 1992, parliament enacted the  Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992  and the rules there were framed in 1994.
• The motto of the Force is “Shaurya-Dridhata-Karma Nishtha” (Valour – Determination – Devotion to Duty). 
• In the year 2004, in pursuance of GoM recommendations on “One Border One Force”, the entire stretch of India-China Border comprising 3488 Kms was assigned to the ITBP for Border Guarding duty and, accordingly, ITBP, replaced Assam Rifles in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in 2004.

Functions & Tasks of ITBP-

• Vigil on the northern borders,detection and prevention of border violations, and promotion of the sense of security among the local populace.
• Check illegal immigration , trans-border smuggling and crimes.
• Security to sensitive installations, banks and protected persons.
• Restore and preserve order in any area in the event of disturbance.

   Presently ITBP has been guarding the India-China border in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh states from the Karakoram pass in Jammu & Kashmir to Jechap La in Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from this, the Force also has important roles in many internal security duties and operations against the Left Wing Extremism in the state of Chhattisgarh.

Role of ITBP:

• Role in controlling Maoist activities.
• Protection to Indian Embassy in Afghanistan.
• ITBP has also excelled in UN peacekeeping operations. 
• ITBP has also provided security, communication and medical cover to the pilgrims during the Annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra since 1981. 
• Being the first responder for natural disasters in the Himalayas, ITBP was the first to establish 7 Regional Response Centres and carried out numerous rescue and relief operations in all disaster situations. 
• ITBP conducts a large number of medical civic action programmes in remote border and terrorist/naxal affected areas to provide free and expert medical, health and hygiene care to the civilian population in remote villages.
• ITBP is at the forefront of the movement for the preservation of Himalayan environment & ecology. 
• ITBP Battalions are also providing security to various installations of national importance throughout the country, which includes Rashtrapati Bhawan, Vice President House, Rumtek Monastery (Sikkim), Tihar Jail (N Delhi), LBSNAA (UKD) and sensitive installations in Chandigarh (Punjab) & Jammu (J&K).

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