All-woman India Reserve Battalion (IRB) to be raised in Jammu and Kashmir

The Home Ministry has planned to raise an all-woman India Reserve Battalion (IRB) in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision has been taken in the wake of girl students throwing stones at security forces in Srinagar a few days ago. The all-woman battalion will be one among the five IRBs that has been sanctioned by the Central government for the State last year. The decision was taken after the Home Minister reviewed various developmental and infrastructure projects in the State.
The all-woman battalion’s major role would be to tackle protesters. Apart from that, it would also be assigned other law and order duties. The cost of raising battalions would be Rs. 61 crore and 75% of the expenditure will be borne by the union government.

The Indian Reserve Battalion is an elite unit trained to deal with a specific situation. It is a type of Armed Police Force that has been sanctioned to States and Union Territories.

India Reserve Battalion (IRB) is raised to provide employment opportunities to the local youths with 60% of vacancies reserved for candidates from the border districts. Though IRB personnel are usually deployed in their respective states, they can also be deployed elsewhere if necessary.

Other decisions

The home ministry has also asked the Jammu and Kashmir State government to not use Special Police Officers as guards at the houses of politicians and other government officials. Instead it has been advised to use them in active policing.
The state has been asked to construct many football fields and develop other sports facilities for the rural youth of the state to engage themselves.

Background

The central government has announced Rs 80,000 crore developmental packages to Jammu and Kashmir in 2015. Already Rs 61,112 crore has already been sanctioned by different ministries and Rs 19,500 crore has been released to implement various projects in the state. Projects to be implemented under the package include augmentation of power infrastructure and road infrastructure, flood relief, promotion of tourism, and setting up of 50 tourist villages.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017