Why in News?

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has proposed that the Assam Rifles should be merged with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and serve under the operational control of the MHA.

About CAPF:

• The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) refers to uniform nomenclature of security forces in India under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs.
• They are the, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Assam Rifles (AR), National Security Guard (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• At present, the Assam Rifles, a Central paramilitary force, is under the administrative control of the MHA and under the operational control of the Army, i.e. the Ministry of Defence.

BSF:

• The primary role of the Border Security Force is to guard the border of the India with Pakistan and Bangladesh; it is deployed both on the International Border (IB) between India and Pakistan and the Line of Control (LOC). The BSF also has active roles during times of war.

CRPF:

• The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is India’s largest Central Armed Police Force and also considered to be World’s largest Paramilitary Force. It functions under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. The CRPF’s primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and Counter Insurgency.

CISF:

• One of the largest industrial security forces in the world, the Central Industrial Security Force provides security to various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other critical infrastructure installations, major airports across the country and provides security during elections and other internal security duties and VVIP protection.

ITBP:

• The Indo-Tibetan Border Police is deployed for guarding duties on the border with China from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Diphu La in Arunachal Pradesh covering a total distance of 3488 km.

Assam Rifles:

• The Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force of India. The unit can trace its lineage back to a paramilitary police force that was formed under the British in 1835 called Cachar Levy. Since 2002 it has been guarding the Indo–Myanmar barrier as per the government policy “one border one force”.

NSG:

• The National Security Guard (NSG) is a counter terrorism unit under the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was raised in 15th October1984, following Operation Blue Star, Akshardham Temple attack and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, “for combating terrorist activities with a view to protect states against Internal Disturbances”.

SSB:

• The objective of the Sashastra Seema Bal (English: Armed Border Force) is to guard the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan Borders.