The government has approved a long-pending proposal to give promotion to over 9,600 paramilitary jawans in three border guarding forces by upgrading their posts, a move aimed at easing stagnation in the ranks.
The orders issued by the Union Home Ministry on March 2, accessed by PTI, will be implemented with an "immediate effect" and will ensure the much-awaited first promotion of 9,603 men and women.
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) will get a maximum of 4,095 upgraded posts followed by 3,024 for Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and 2,484 for Assam Rifles.
The decision is being seen as a major development to ease backlog in promotions in the lower ranks of the three forces that had been stuck since 2012.
These frontier forces had petitioned the government in 2013 requesting for upgradation of one constable post in each section (comprising 10-12 personnel) of a battalion to the next level of head constable or havildar rank.
The move will not only help in increasing promotion chances to those appointed at the lowest rung of these forces but will also aid in better operational management of the unit while on a task, a senior official said.
A section is the smallest unit in a paramilitary or Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) that is capable of operating independently to accomplish a given task of rendering law and order duties, conducting patrols, guarding a critical installation or laying ambushes.
"The expenditure for these promotions will be borne by the forces concerned from their sanctioned budgets. The modalities have been cleared by both the Union Home and Finance Ministries," the official said.
The senior-most jawans in each section, with about 15-18 years of service, will be promoted as per the latest orders and will be given duties to lead small teams, he said.
"There is already a huge stagnation in the lower ranks of the constabulary. The latest order will ease this issue a bit as delay in promotion is one of the biggest grievance amongst these personnel working in some of the harshest and difficult borders, violence and threat-prone areas," he said.
The country has four border guarding forces under the Home Ministry and each of them is tasked with securing different frontiers.
While the ITBP guards the Sino-India frontier, the SSB looks after the security along India-Nepal and India-Bhutan borders. The Assam Rifles carries out similar duties along Indo-Myanmar border.
The Border Security Force (BSF), guards the India-Bangladesh and India-Pakistan borders.
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