[Security Forces] Indian Security Forces and Agencies and their Mandates

The Army

• Headquarters – New Delhi
• Functions under – The chief of Army Staff, responsible for the command, control and administration as a whole
• Divided into six operational commands (field armies) and one training command.

Air Force

• Was officially established on 8th October 1932.
• 5 operational commands
• Two functional commands – Maintenance Command and Training Command
• Headquarters – New Delhi

Navy

• Responsible for defence and security of India’s maritime interests and assets, both in times of war and peace.
• Functions under – The chief of the Naval Staff
• Headquarters – New Delhi

National Investigative Agency (NIA)

• Is the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency in India
• Born through the enactment of NIA Act on 31st December 2008.
• Deals with

1.   Militancy and insurgency and Left-wing extremism
2.   Various forms of terrorist attacks and bomb blasts
3.    Infiltration from across the borders
4.   Complex inter-state and international-linkages
5.   other activities like the smuggling of arms and drugs
6.   pushing in of fake Indian currency etc.

Paramilitary forces 

Assam Rifles

• The oldest paramilitary force.
• Under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
• Provision of internal security under the control of the army through the conduct of counter insurgency and border security operations.
• In times of war they are used as a combat force to secure rear areas if needed.
• It has been guarding the India-Myanmar border as per the government policy “one border one force”

Coast Guard

• Came into being on 1 February 1977 and was constituted as an independent armed force of the Union of India with the enactment of CG Act 1978 on 18 August 1978.
• Duties include:

1.   Safety and protection of offshore installations and maritime environment
2.    Assisting customs in anti-smuggling operations.

Special Frontier Force

• It was created in 1962. The force was put under the direct supervision of the Intelligence Bureau, and later, under the Research and Analysis wing.
• Main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in the event of tensions that might arise anytime as Indo-China war.

National Security Guards

• India’s premier counter-terrorism force, created under the National Security Guard Act of 1985
• Operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs
• Headed by the Director of the Indian Police Service (IPS)
• Also known as ‘Black Cats’
• Roles include

1.   Protecting VIPs
2.   Conducting anti-sabotage checks
3.   Rescuing hostages
4.    Neutralizing terrorist threats to vital installations
5.    Engaging terrorists and responding to hijack and piracy

Special Protection Group

• The force was created in 1985 following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
• Is used for the protection of VVIPs such as the prime Minister and his/her immediate family members.
• The officer cadre is mainly IPS officers from various state/central cadres

Rapid Action Force (RAF)

• Specialized wing of the Indian CRPF
• Formed in October 1992, to deal with riots and related unrest

Border Security Force (BSF)

• Established on December 1, 1965.
• Responsible for guarding India’s land borders during peacetime and preventing trans border crimes
• Operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs
• Currently the world’s largest border guarding force.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

• Functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs
• Primary role is in assisting the state/Union territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency.
• Came into existence on December 28, 1949 by the enactment of the CRPF Act
• Role of CRPF in General elections has been very vital and significant
• The 88th Battalion of CRPF, known as “Mahila Battalion” (commissioned on Mar 30, 1986) is the world’s first paramilitary force comprising entirely of women.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police

• Came into existence on 24 October, 1962 for security along the Indo-Tibetan border
• It is basically employed in the Northern borders for monitoring the borders and also to stop smuggling and illegal immigration.
• The ITBP personnel is trained in mountaineering, disaster management, and nuclear, biological and chemical disasters
• Have been deployed in UN peacekeeping missions

Central Industrial Security Force

• Established on June 15, 1983
• Headquarters – New Delhi
• Provides security cover to industrial units located all over India like atomic power plants, space installations, defence units, mints, oil fields and refineries, major ports etc.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

• Armed border force formerly known as special service bureau and under the control of MHA.
• Specifically created as the brainchild of Indian think tank to counter the Chinese by using guerrilla tactics.
• First border guarding force which has decided to recruit women battalions.
• Also engaged in counter Insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Anti-naxal operations in Jharkhand and Bihar.
• Role is to promote sense of security among the people living in the border areas, to prevent trans-border crimes, and unauthorized entries or exit from the territory of India, and to prevent smuggling and other illegal activities.

Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)

• India’s external intelligence agency
• Was formed in September 1968.
• Primary function is collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations
• Responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons, in order to advice Indian foreign policy makers.