Internal Security: February 2022 Current Affairs - UPSC PDF Download

Central Armed Police Forces Reforms

Why in News

Recently, the Government of India told the Lok Sabha that nearly 1,200 paramilitary troopers died by suicide in last 10 years.

• Also, more Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel died by suicide in the Covid-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
• Domestic problems, illness and financial problems are some of the contributory factors among others behind the incidents of suicide.

What are Central Armed Police Forces?

• The Ministry of Home Affairs maintains seven CAPFs:
  • The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which assists in internal security and counterinsurgency.
  • The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which protects vital installations (like airports) and public sector undertakings.
  • The National Security Guards (NSG), which is a special counterterrorism force.
  • Four border guarding forces, which are the Border Security Force(BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and AssamRifles (AR).

What are Major Functions of CAPFs?

• Border Security: Safeguard the security of borders of India and promote a sense of security among the people living in border areas.
  • Prevent trans-border crimes, smuggling, unauthorised entry into or exit from the territory of India and to prevent any other illegal activity.
• Industrial Security: Provide security to sensitive installations, persons at security risk.
• Other Functions: Counter Insurgency Operations, Anti Naxal Operations, Internal Security Duties, VIP Protection, Lead Intelligence Agency, Security To Diplomatic Missions Abroad, United Nations(UN) Peacekeeping Operations, Disaster Management, Civic Action Nodal Agency for UN Police Missions, etc.

What are Associated Issues with CAPFs?

• Working Conditions: The Standing Committee on Home Affairs in the year 2017 had expressed concern over the working conditions of personnel of the border guarding forces.
  • The Committee observed that they had to work 16-18 hours a day, with little time for rest or sleep.
  • The personnel were also not satisfied with medical facilities that had been provided at border locations.
  • In addition, the Standing Committee observed that personnel of the CAPFs have not been treated at par with the Armed Forces, in terms of pay and allowances.
• Impediments to Modernisation: The MHA has been making efforts to provide modern arms, ammunition, and vehicles to the CAPFs.
  • The Plan aims to provide financial support to CAPFs for modernisation in areas of arms, clothing, and equipment.
• However, the Estimates Committee observed that the procurement process under the Plan was cumbersome and time consuming. 
• Burdened By States’ Responsibilities: There is heavy  dependence of states on CAPFs, even for everyday law and order issues.
  • This affects the anti-insurgency and border guarding operations, besides curtailing the training needs of these forces.
• Cadre Management Issue: Each of the seven has its own cadre of officers, but they are headed by officers of the Indian Police Service.
  • This has a demoralising effect on the officers of the CAPFs, and impacts the effectiveness of the forces.
  • In addition, there was frustration in CAPFs due to stagnation in promotions and lack of cadre review.
• Increasing Cases of Fratricide: There have been more than 25 incidents of fratricide (killing of one’s brother or sister) reported in the forces since 2019.

What can be the Way Forward for CAPFs?

• Modernising the CAPFs: MHA should ensure the bottlenecks in procurement should be identified and corrective action should be taken.
  • Moreover, given the evolution of hybrid warfare, the contents of training should be a mix of conventional matters as well as latest technologies such as ICT, and cyber security.
• Augmenting States’ Capacity: States must develop their own systems, and augment their police forces by providing adequate training and equipment.
  • The central government should supplement the efforts of state governments by providing financial assistance and other help needed by states for capacity building of their forces.
• Corrective Measures in Cadre Policy: Citing the dissatisfaction in Cadre policy, Joshi Committee recommended that top positions should be filled from the respective cadre of the CAPF.
  • Further, the Committee recommended that cadre review of all the CAPFs should be carried out within a defined timeline.
  • It is high time to implement these recommendations as soon as possible.
• Personnel Reforms: Workshops on stress management should regularly be undertaken, and yoga and meditation be made part of the daily exercise for CAPF personnel.
• Further, the provision of accommodation near the deployment of the respective force, to enable personnel to meet their family members, can also be explored.

Assam Rifles

Why in News?

Recently, the 187th Raising Day of the Assam Rifles has been celebrated in Shillong. Assam Rifles is the watchdog of the North East and the oldest paramilitary force in the country.

What is the Key Role of Assam Rifles?

• Assam Rifles is a Central Paramilitary Force under the Central Armed Police Forces.
• It came into being in 1835, as a militia called the ‘Cachar Levy’, to primarily protect British Tea estates and their settlements against tribal raids.
• It significantly contributed to the opening of Assam region to administration and commerce and over time it came to be known as the “right arm of the civil and left arm of the military”.
• Assam Rifles has two battalions stationed in Jammu and Kashmir and one National Disaster Relief Force battalion, which is playing its active role in case of natural calamities.
• Although India has been contributing to the UN peacekeeping for many years, the addition of the Riflewomen Team of the Assam Rifles adds another social and human dimension to our commitment to the community of nations.

Major role post-Independence:

• Conventional combat role during the Sino-India War 1962.
• Operations in a foreign land as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka in 1987 (Operation Pawan).
• Peacekeeping role in the North-Eastern areas of India.
• In November 2019, MHA proposed to merge it with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
• ITBP is a specialized mountain force, raised in October 1962
• It is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 km of Indo-China Border.

What is the Central Armed Police Forces?

The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) refers to seven security forces in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

• Assam Rifles (AR)
• Border Security Force (BSF)
• Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
• Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
• National Security Guard (NSG)
• Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

Hypersonic Missiles

Why in News

Recently, Russia used a hypersonic missile for the first time in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

What is a Hypersonic Missile?

• A hypersonic missile is a weapon system which flies at least at the speed of Mach 5 i.e. five times the speed of sound and is manoeuvrable.
• The manoeuvrability of the hypersonic missile is what sets it apart from a ballistic missile as the latter follows a set course or a ballistic trajectory.
• Thus, unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles do not follow a ballistic trajectory and can be manoeuvred to the intended target.
• The two types of hypersonic weapons systems are Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles.
• The HGV are launched from a rocket before gliding  to the intended target while the hypersonic cruise missile is powered by air breathing high speed engines or ‘scramjets’ after acquiring their target.

What are the advantages of hypersonic missiles?

• They can enable responsive, long range strike options against distant, defended or time critical threats (such as road mobile missiles) when other forces are unavailable, denied access or not preferred.
• Conventional hypersonic weapons use only kinetic energy i.e. energy derived from motion, to destroy unhardened targets or even underground facilities.

Are hypersonic missiles detectable in flight?

• Hypersonic weapons can challenge detection and defence due to their speed, manoeuvrability and low altitude of flight.
• The Ground based radars or terrestrial radars cannot detect hypersonic missiles until late in the flight of the weapon. 
  • This delayed detection makes it difficult for the responders to the missile attack to assess their options and to attempt to intercept the missile.

Which countries possess hypersonic weapons?

• While the US, Russia and China are in advanced stages of hypersonic missile programmes, India, France, Germany, Japan and Australia too are developing hypersonic weapons.

What is the Indian Hypersonic Missile Programme?

• India is also developing an indigenous, dual capable (conventional as well as nuclear) hypersonic cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle Programme and has successfully tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and September 2020.
• India operates approximately 12 hypersonic wind tunnels and is capable of testing speeds upto Mach 13.

BrahMos Export to Philippines

Why in News?

Recently, Philippines has signed a deal with BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd. for the supply of a shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This is the first export order for the missile, a joint product of India and Russia.

• The Philippines wants to induct this missile amid tensions with China over the disputed islands in the South China Sea.
• Several countries have shown interest in acquiring the BrahMos missile. For example, discussions are in advanced stages with Indonesia and Thailand.

What are the features of BrahMos Missile?

• BrahMos is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India (DRDO) and the NPOM of Russia.
  • BrahMos is named on the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.
• It is a two-stage (solid propellant engine in the first stage and liquid ramjet in second) missile.
• It is a multiplatform missile i.e it can be launched from land, air, and sea and multi capability missile with pinpoint accuracy that works in both day and night irrespective of the weather conditions.
• It operates on the “Fire and Forgets” principle i.e it does not require further guidance after launch.
• Brahmos is one of the fastest cruise missiles currently operationally deployed with speed of Mach 2.8, which is nearly 3 times more than the speed of sound.
• Recently, an Advance Version of BrahMos (extended range sea-to-sea variant) was test fired.
  • Following India’s entry into the MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime) club in June 2016, the range is planned to be extended to 450 km and to 600km at a later stage.
  • The BrahMos missile was initially developed with a range capped at 290 km.

What is Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)?

• It is an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying greater than 500 kg payload for more than 300 km.
• The members are thus prohibited from supplying such missiles and UAV systems that are controlled by the MTCR to non-members.
• The decisions are taken by consensus of all the members.
• This is a non–treaty association of member countries with certain guidelines about the information sharing, national control laws and export policies for missile systems and a rule-based regulation mechanism to limit the transfer of such critical technologies of these missile systems.
• It was established in April 1987 by G-7 countries –USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan.

What is the Status of India’s Defence Exports?

• Defence exports are a pillar of the government’s drive to attain self-sufficiency in defence production.
• Over 30 Indian defence companies have exported arms and equipment to countries like Italy, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Russia, France, Nepal, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Israel, Egypt, UAE, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Poland, Spain and Chile.
• The exports include personal protective items, defence electronics systems, engineering mechanical equipment, offshore patrol vessels, advanced light helicopters, avionics suits, radio systems and radar systems.
• However, India’s defense exports are still not upto the expected lines.
  • The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ranked India at number 23 in the list of major arms exporters for 2015-2019.
  • India still accounts for only 0.17% of global arms exports.
• Reason for dismal performance in India’s Defense exports is that, India’s Ministry of Defense so far has no dedicated agency to drive exports.
  • Exports are left to individual corporations, like BrahMos or the defence public shipyards and undertakings.
• In this context, the KPMG report titled ‘Defence Exports: Untapped Potential recommends the first step of setting up of an exclusive “defence export help desk”.
  • On the basis of inputs from the help-desk, the report says, Indian companies could work with government machinery to realise exports.
• If India is successful in providing big-ticket military systems to countries in the neighbourhood, it won’t just be a boost for defence exports but will also be a strategic step to counter China’s influence as it provides defence products in Asia, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Parliamentary Panel Report on Police Reforms

Why in News?

Recently, the Parliamentary standing committee on home affairs has tabled a report on Police- training, modernisation and reforms. The report highlights the number of reforms required and challenges faced by the Police forces.

What are the Key Points of the Report?

• Addressing Women Under-representation: The report asked the Centre to advise states and Union Territories to create a road map for ensuring 33% representation of women in police while expressing anguish over their underrepresentation.
  • The appointment of women in police may be done by creating additional posts rather than converting the vacant posts of men.
  • Ensuring higher women representation will also help in improving the police-population ratio.
  • States and union territories should assign important challenging duties to women instead of those of inconsequence. It recommended at least one allwomen police station in each district.
• Managing Stress of Police Personnels: It recommended offline and online modules to help them de-stress through yoga, exercises, counseling and treatment.
• Separation of Law Enforcement & Investigation Wing: It called for the separation of investigation from law and order to maintain accountability and increase police autonomy in probing crimes.
  • This will lead to specialisation and professionalism, speed up the investigation and secure the convictions.
• Virtual Trails: The panel backed virtual trials, particularly those involving high-risk groups, via video conferencing.
  • It will help in dedicating less police force for escorting under-trial prisoners to courts and also save resources.
• Addressing Poor Conditions of Police: The committee expressed disappointment over the poor housing satisfaction levels among police personnel and recommended an allocation of funds for housing.
• In the 21st century India, there are police stations without telephones or proper wireless connectivity especially in many sensitive states like Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab.
• People-friendly Policing: Policing system should be transparent, independent, accountable and peoplefriendly.
• Lax Implementation of Law: The committee expressed concern that even after 15 years, only 17 States have either enacted the Model Police Act, 2006, or amended the existing Act.
  • The progress in police reforms has been slow. 
  • It recommends that the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) may put the information in public domain about the states that are leading and lagging in the modernization process
• Community Policing: Community policing should be promoted, as it involves a cooperative effort between police and the communities where both can work together to solve the crime and crime-related problems.
• Border Police Training: Advise the state police and central armed police forces to train and liaison with people living in the border areas for gathering intelligence on infiltration, use of drones and drug trafficking.
• Pool of Anti-drone Technology: For drones, the panel directed the MHA to create a central pool of anti-drone technology “at the earliest” and give its access to all states and Union Territories.
• Under-Utilisation of Funds: The committee observed that the under-utilisation of funds by the states for police modernisation needs to be identified.
  • It recommended that the MHA should consider constituting a committee which can visit the underperforming states and assist them to utilize the funds in a planned manner.

What is the Meaning of Police Reforms?

• Police reforms aim to transform the values, culture, policies and practices of police organizations.
• It envisages police to perform their duties with respect for democratic values, human rights and the rule of law.
• It also aims to improve how the police interact with other parts of the security sector, such as the courts and departments of corrections, or executive, parliamentary or independent authorities with management or oversight responsibilities.
• Police come under the state list of schedule 7 of the Indian constitution.

Committees/Commissions on Police Reforms

What are the Issues Concerning Police Forces?

• Colonial Legacy: The Police Act of 1861 was legislated by the British right after the revolt of 1857 to bring in efficient administration of police in the country and to prevent any future revolts.
• Accountability to the Political Executives vs Operational Freedom: The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC-2007) has noted that political control has been abused in the past by the political executive to unduly influence police personnel, and have them serve personal or political interests.
• Psychological Pressure: In the Indian police force, the lower ranks of police personnel are often verbally abused by their superiors or they work in inhuman conditions.
• Public Perception: The Second ARC has noted that police-public relations is in an unsatisfactory State because people view the police as corrupt, inefficient, politically partisan and unresponsive.
• Overburdened Force: While the sanctioned police strength was 181 police per lakh persons in 2016, the actual strength was 137 police.
  • This is way too low when compared with the United Nations’ recommended standard of 222 police per lakh persons.
• Constabulary Related Issues: The constabulary constitutes 86% of the State police forces and has wide-ranging responsibilities.
• Infrastructural Issues: Modern policing requires strong communication support, state-of the-art or modern weapons, and a high degree of mobility.
  • However, CAG audit reports of year 2015-16, have found shortages in weaponry with state police forces.
  • Also, the Bureau of Police Research and Development has also noted a 30.5% deficiency in stock of required vehicles with the state forces.

What Other Reforms can be Brought?

• Modernisation of Police Forces: The Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF) scheme was initiated in 1969-70 and has undergone several revisions over the years.
  • However, there is a need to fully utilize the finances sanctioned by the government.
  • MPF scheme envisages:
    (i) Procurement of modern weapons
    (ii) Mobility of police forces
    (iii) Logistics support, upgradation of police wireless, etc.
    (iv) A National satellite network
• Need For Political Will: The Supreme Court in the landmark Prakash Singh case (2006) gave seven directives where considerable work in police reforms is still needed.
  • However, due to the lack of political will these directives were not implemented in letter and spirit in many states.
• Revamping Criminal Justice System: Along with Police reforms, there is a need to reform the criminal justice system too. In this context, the recommendations of the Menon and Malimath Committees can be implemented. 
• Some of the key recommendations are as follows
  (i) Creation of a fund to compensate victims who turn hostile from the pressure of culprits.
  (ii) Setting up separate authority at the national level to deal with crimes threatening the country’s security.
  (iii) A complete revamp of the entire criminal procedure system.