Amit Shah to attend ITBP's 62nd Foundation Day Parade Ceremony in Dehradun

New Delhi [India], November 9 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah is all set to attend the 62nd Foundation Day Parade Ceremony of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), scheduled to be held in Uttarakhand's capital, Dehradun, on Friday.
Shah will be attending the event as a chief guest. The event is scheduled at 10.30 am at 23rd Corps, Border Gate, Dehradun (Uttarakhand).
ITBP, one of the Central Armed Police Forces working under the Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for guarding the 3,488 km of India-China border running along Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Ladakh from the Karakoram pass in Jammu and Kashmir to Jechap La in Arunachal Pradesh. The altitude of ITBP Border Outposts ranges from 9,000 feet to 18,750 feet, where the temperature dips to (-) 45 degrees Celsius.
Vigilance on the northern borders, detection and prevention of border violations, and promotion of a sense of security among the local populace are among the major functions and tasks of the ITBP.
Besides, the ITBP is tasked with checking illegal immigration, trans-border smuggling and crimes. The force is also responsible for the security of some sensitive installations, banks and protected persons.
The ITBP is also deployed to restore and preserve order in any area in the event of a disturbance.
The ITBP battalions are also providing security to various installations of national importance throughout the country, which include Rashtrapati Bhawan, Vice President House, Rumtek Monastery (Sikkim), Tihar Jail (New Delhi), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (Uttarakhand) and various sensitive installations in Chandigarh (Punjab) and Jammu.
In view of increased naxal activities in various parts of the country, the ITBP was inducted in district Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) in December 2009 to thwart the menace. At present, eight battalions are deployed in Rajnandgaon, Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts of Chhattisgarh.
At present, a well-equipped and highly trained team of elite commandos are deployed in Afghanistan to provide security to the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
The ITBP has also excelled in UN peacekeeping operations. The Force personnel were deployed for peacekeeping operations in Angola, Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mozambique and Kosovo. A national centre for UNCIVPOL training has been set up at ITBP Camp, Tigri and New Delhi to provide systematic training to Indian police officers for deployment in UN missions.
The ITBP has also been providing security, communication and medical cover to the pilgrims during the Annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra since 1981. The force provides communication, security and medical cover to the yatries from Gunji to Lipulekh Pass and back to Gunji in co-ordination with MEA and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam. Since 2015, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has also been conducted on the Nathula route and ITBP is providing similar assistance for pilgrims on this route as well.
Being the first responder for natural disasters in the Himalayas, the ITBP was the first to establish seven regional response centres and carry out numerous rescue and relief operations in all disaster situations, which took place in their areas of responsibility as well as other parts of the country. In a historic rescue and relief operation in 2013, the ITBP saved 33,009 pilgrims from grave situations from Char Dham yatra routes in Uttarakhand in the 15-day rescue effort by the force. A total of 15 Himveers laid down their lives on June 25, 2013 in a helicopter crash during this rescue operation.
The ITBP conducts a large number of medical and civic action programmes in remote border and terrorist and naxal affected areas to provide free and expert medical, health and hygiene care to the civilian population in remote villages.
The ITBP is at the forefront of the movement for the preservation of the Himalayan environment and ecology. It has taken up in a big way the task of greening the Himalayan regions, especially in the inner Himalayas. Being the only human presence in forward areas, it has taken on itself the task of maintaining the delicate balance of flora and fauna.
Raised on October 24, 1962 for reorganising the frontier intelligence and security set up along the Indo-Tibetan border, the ITBP's only four battalions were sanctioned to begin with. The force was initially raised under the CRPF Act. However, in 1992, parliament enacted the ITBPF Act and the rules thereunder were framed in 1994.
With additional tasks entrusted to ITBP from time to time on border guarding, counter-insurgency and internal security roles, the number of ITBP battalions increased gradually and the force presently has 60 service battalions, four specialist battalions, 17 training centres and seven logistics establishments, with a total strength of approximately 88,432 personnel.