Ageing men, slow promotions plague BSF

Shaurya Karanbir Gurung

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 3

The Border Security Force, which is deployed along the country’s hostile border with Pakistan, is currently faced with a problem of ageing Commanding Officers, who are presently above 50 years. Ideally, they should be between 30 and 40 years.

During the Kargil war, the average age of a Commanding Officer or Colonel of a unit of all arms of the Army was about 40 years. Reports of the Kargil Review Committee, Group of Ministers and Ajay Vikram Singh Committee had suggested that the age of commanding officers of the combat arms be brought down for better performance. This has been achieved by the Army.

The three committees, however, did not make any suggestions to reduce the age of Commanding Officers of the BSF, which operates under the Army during war. The Delhi High Court on April 22 had ordered that a cadre review of the BSF be conducted within six months.

A cadre review is conducted so as to meet the functional requirements of the force by creating additional posts that would reduce age of personnel considerably. BSF sources said the force was plagues with untimely promotions, unplanned recruitment at the entry levels and fewer higher posts. This has resulted in little upward mobility or career progression of officers.

Currently, the average age of Commandants (Commanding Officers) of the BSF’s General Duty (GD) cadre — the fighting arm — is 49 as compared to the Army’s 37. The average age of a Deputy Inspector General is 54, while a Brigade Commander in the Army is 43.

The BSF is presently deployed for the counter-insurgency and anti-Maoist operations in the country. “Do you expect a 50-year-old Commandant to fight a war, for instance, at an altitude of 12,000 ft. He has physical and psychological limitations. The appetite for risk taking reduces. If a Commandant won’t take the risk, his troops, too, won’t. The Line of Control is guarded by the Army and the BSF secures the international border. An ageing command responsible for it may not be able to deliver,” said the sources.

The problem of ageing is also prevalent at the lower levels of the force. Most head constables are touching 50 years and constables, who constitute 90 per cent of the BSF, are between 40 and 45 years. They are part of the smallest sub-unit and play a major role in patrol, ambush, border management duties and bunker-to-bunker battles.

Ever since it was raise on December 1, 1965, the BSF’s GD cadre has had only two reviews in 1978 and 1989, though the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) guidelines clearly state that a cadre review of the BSF should be conducted every five years.

Former BSF Deputy Inspector General (Operations) JS Bhalla said he had sent the third cadre review proposal to the DoPT, which responded by saying that the BSF is not an Organised Group A Service (OGAS). Therefore, a cadre review cannot be conducted and only a “restructuring” of the force can be carried out, which was done in 2003.”

If the government conducts a cadre review, they would have to accept BSF as an OGAS.