Life On The Edge: Border Units Lack Basic Amenities

Troops in outposts need access to clean water, electricity

- Vijaita Singh

It is a truism that a notsohealthy and illequipped force cannot guard a nation's borders properly.

Nearly 82% of Border Outposts (BOPS) of the IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP), deployed along the inhospitable and rugged China border, do not have access to clean drinking water. Over 40% are unconnected by road, according to submissions made by the Home Ministry before a parliamentary committee.

Shocked? There's more.

There are 177 BOPS of the ITBP, of which only 24% have a regular supply of electricity. The rest (76%) are dependent on generators.

Presented to RS

These revelations are part of the 214th Report on `Working Conditions in Border Guarding Forces (Assam Rifles, Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo Tibetan Border Police and Border Security Force)', running into 137 pages and presented to the Rajya Sabha on December 12.

The report was compiled by a committee headed by Congress leader P. Chidambaram, comprising 29 parliamentarians from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

SUNDAY SPECIAL
It was generated after the committee, at its meeting held on October 24, 2017, decided to examine "working conditions in Central armed police forces."

The findings reveal major chinks in the country's security armour.

As per the government policy of "One Border One Force," the entire stretch along the 3,488 km China border was assigned to the ITBP in 2004, replacing Assam Rifles in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh for border guarding duties.

Water from rivulets

"The Committee is surprised to observe that in 82% of the [ITBP] BOPS, drinking water is obtained from rivulets and springs which are polluted... at some places the level of contamination is alarming. Clean drinking water is a fundamental right."