India’s largest Central Armed Police Force with a strength of 3.25 lakh personnel, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is also one of the largest armed police forces in the world.
Be it Naxalism or terrorism, you will find that CRPF is dealing with all this. The work of CRPF is not just limited to counter these challenges but also has a wing to protect VVIPs like Home Minister Amit Shah, Gandhi family and other dignitaries.
The force, which is unique in many aspects, also includes a specialized anti-terrorist wing – QAT – and an anti-Naxal unit – COBRA. It also guards the Parliament and has the largest number of ‘women’ battalions that have recently been inducted to fight the Naxalites. Additionally, the CRPF has a dedicated anti-riot force called Rapid Action Force (RAF), which is often considered a nightmare for rioters.
One of the most decorated forces, the CRPF remains at the top when it comes to winning gallantry medals. Its personnel have been awarded the most medals and some officers have received one of the most prestigious medals – the Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) – more than a dozen times. This force, which started with only two battalions during the British era, has now become the largest paramilitary force with 246 battalions.
History
The CRPF was originally constituted as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, making it one of the oldest central paramilitary forces (now called the Central Armed Police Forces). During its initial days, the CRPF’s main job was to protect British residents in various states and after 10 years their role changed.
After independence, the force got a new name – Central Reserve Police Force – through an Act passed in Parliament on December 28, 1949. The Act constituted the CRPF as the Armed Force of the Union and VG Kanetkar was appointed on March 25, 1955. First DG of CRPF.
For the first few years after independence, CRPF troops were sent to the Kutch, Rajasthan and Sindh borders to keep an eye on infiltration and other cross-border crimes. In 1959, the CRPF was deployed along the Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir following attacks by Pakistani infiltrators.
The force also clashed with Chinese troops on October 21, 1959, when a small CRPF patrol was ambushed by the Chinese at Hot Springs, in which 10 of its men made the supreme sacrifice for the country. His martyrdom on 21 October is remembered as Police Commemoration Day every year across the country.
A few years after the incident, during the Chinese invasion of 1962, the force assisted the Indian Army in Arunachal Pradesh. Eight CRPF personnel were martyred in the action. In the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, the CRPF fought shoulder to shoulder with the Indian Army on two frontiers – Western and Eastern. The force was sent to the northeastern states in the late 70s to deal with extremist groups after fighting with Pakistan.
structure and strength
The force is headed by an IPS officer at the level of Director General. The second level after the DG is the Special Director General and the Additional Director General. They lead the areas distributed in Jammu and Kashmir, North-East, Central and Southern. Four other ADG or SDG level officers oversee operations, training, headquarters and academy and report directly to the DG. These officers are the heads of about 40 IGs, who are also heads of areas and special units like VVIP, CoBRA etc.
The force has a dedicated VIP wing to provide security to the country’s dignitaries and the PDG or Parliament Duty Group for security of the Parliament complex. It also boasts of a special duty group to secure the residence of the Prime Minister.
At present, there are 246 battalions, which include 203 Executive, 5 VIP Security, 6 Women, 15 RAF, 10 CoBRA, 5 Signal and 1 Special Duty Group, 1 Parliament Duty Group. The force also has 43 Cluster Centres, 22 Training Institutes, 4 Composite Hospitals of 100 beds, 18 Samagra Hospitals of 50 beds and 6 Field Hospitals.
heroic story
The story of CRPF’s valor begins in 1959, when on 21 October 1959, soldiers faced an attack by Chinese soldiers in a cold with minus temperature at Hot Springs. CRPF lost 10 of its jawans in this attack.
CRPF is an all-terrain force. Thousands of kilometers away and nearly six years later, CRPF personnel displayed exceptional bravery at Sardar Post in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, when they fought Pakistan.
In early 1965, four companies of the CRPF were ordered to set up border posts in the Rann of Kutch. On the intervening night of 8 and 9 April, 3,500 soldiers of the Pakistani Army launched Operation ‘Desert Hawk’ against India. However, it was no match for the small but brave group of around 150 CRPF jawans who intercepted the Pakistani troops and killed 34 of their men.
After these two incidents, CRPF remained active with Pakistan. In another instance, in a display of their bravery, the jawans faced a challenging day on December 13, 2001, when a group of terrorists barged into the Parliament and opened fire indiscriminately. Since the security of Parliament was in the hands of CRPF, its jawans retaliated and in this encounter that lasted for about 30 minutes, all the five terrorists were eliminated. A woman constable also sacrificed her life in the attack.
The force was called into action again on July 5, 2005, when soldiers guarding the Ram Janmabhoomi area in Ayodhya eliminated five armed terrorists trying to enter the complex.
A total of 2,241 CRPF personnel have made the supreme sacrifice while protecting the country. The force has also been awarded the highest number of gallantry medals with 2,309 personnel receiving the honour. Officers and jawans have also been awarded the Ashok Chakra (highest peacetime gallantry award), 10 Kirti Chakras, 35 Shaurya Chakras and 202 President’s Police Medals for gallantry.
Budget
In the current budget of the year 2022-23, the CRPF has been allocated the maximum amount of Rs 29,324.92 crore. As the force is the largest among all the Central Armed Police Forces, the CRPF receives the maximum budget allocation for all the schemes.
Training
The force has the largest number of training schools and academies for all levels. An ADG-level officer, who heads the CRPF Academy in Kadarpur, Haryana, oversees the training.
With the increasing complexity of security, CRPF constantly reviews the training curriculum. A trainee has to complete 52 weeks of training, which includes firing training, while officers receive training on IEDs in the CRPF’s IED cell. There is another level of training for commandos, who have to train for months after completing their physical tests. After this these commandos are inducted into special units of CRPF.
Training also includes jungle-survival techniques, combat fitness, IED counter measures, intelligence gathering. CRPF officers and jawans also get practical training in the use of state-of-the-art weapons like MMG, AK-47 assault rifle, light machine gun, 7.62 mm light machine gun, X-95 assault rifles etc.
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