‘To provide limited family accommodation in the nature of holiday homes’
‘To address the issue of armed forces personnel morale and separation from their families’
Srinagar: Citing “constant shenanigans” from Pakistan, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has sought land in Jammu and Kashmir in order to establish permanent camps for its battalions in the erstwhile state as it is not expecting any reduction in the deployment of its armed forces personnel.
In this regard, a meeting, according to a report by The Print, was held last week at the Ministry of Home Affairs to identify the land and transfer to establishment Battalion Camping Sites or BCSs in both divisions of the erstwhile state.
The meeting was attended by senior ministry officials as well as those from the CRPF, the JK Police and the administration of JK.
Quoting sources at the Government of India (GoI) and JK administration, the report said that directions have been issued for such requests to be expeditiously disposed of.
“The J&K government will expeditiously dispose of requisitions made by the CRPF after it places indent (seeks land) according to its requirements. These requisitions are considered important and are to be dealt with in a time-bound manner,” the report quoted a senior JK administration functionary as having said.
The officer added that several departments of the JK administration are involved in the process.
The report added that meeting was held after the CRPF, in communication to Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on 17 August, stated that despite the magnanimity and support of Ministry of Home Affairs to upgrade infrastructure, a majority of CRPF camps are not designed to house battalion headquarters.
The communication, according to report, sent by CRPF director general A P Maheshwari, stated: “Given our huge deployment in J&K since a very long time, which due to Pakistan’s shenanigans is not likely to reduce dramatically, in the foreseeable future, a strong case is made out for CRPF to have permanent BCS (Battalion Camping Sites), in key locations.”
The communication added that proposed BCSs are not only intended to create adequate infrastructure for CRPF personnel but also to provide limited family accommodation in the nature of holiday homes to address the issue of armed forces personnel morale and separation from their families.
“Not only would these proposed BCSs have secure defences, but also the adequate and appropriate infrastructure for our personnel, which would increase efficiency. Besides, we intend to create limited family accommodation in the nature of holiday homes in these BCS to house the visiting families of our personnel, by rotation, to address the issue of morale and long separation,” the communication stated.
In JK, there are currently 61 CRPF battalions, plus three mahila (women’s) companies, and 236 additional companies.
According to the report, nine locations in the Jammu and 20 in Kashmir have been identified where the proposed BCSs are to be established. The locations in Jammu include in Ramban district, where the CRPF has sought 41.77 acres (334 Kanal) of land. Its requests for Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur, Doda, Reasi and Rajouri are unspecified.
In Kashmir, the CRPF has identified 20 locations in Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara, Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian. It wants around 8 acres in Srinagar’s Zakura area, around 5 acres in Ganderbal, 5 acres in Pulwama’s Kakpora area and around 7 acres in Qazigund. Eight of the 20 locations in Kashmir are in southern part of the Valley, while the rest are in central and north Kashmir, the report said.
“It is the responsibility of the state to give accommodation to the CRPF or other paramilitary forces. We have approached the MHA, and now the matter is between the ministry and the JK government,” the report quoted a senior CRPF officer saying.
The report also quoted another senior CRPF officer saying: “Pakistan’s interference in the region by sponsoring insurgency and infiltrating militants is part of a larger plan to destabilise JK. The CRPF has been at the forefront of upholding law and order in JK. It’s a challenging task, but the force has given exemplary results, and naturally, Pakistan is likely to be more aggressive. It is thus required that our troops are provided with ample means to defend the region.”
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