In a bid to strengthen operational capabilities of forces involved in anti-Naxal offensive, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has cleared a proposal to recruit over 2,000 ex-Army men with expertise in jungle warfare to impart training to such CRPF personnel.
The paramilitary force deployed in Maoist-affected areas already has training academies, including the Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist (CIAT) schools and Central Training Colleges (CTCs), where various in-service courses are conducted for officers and jawans.
The CRPF has advertised 2,037 positions for retired Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs) of the Army. These retired Army men would be drawn from Army regiments and Corps like infantry, armoured, artillery, bomb disposal and engineering Corps.
“The retired Army men will train the young CRPF officers in countering IED operations, jungle warfare tactic and guerrilla operations in difficult terrains. Anti-Naxal operations is very different from conventional operation and requires specialised training,” a CRPF official said.
The CRPF would pay them salary and perks at par with any other forces to attract best talents. A JCO would be paid Rs 55,000, while NCOs would get Rs 35,000 per month. They would be hired on contract for a period ranging between three to five years and required to serve in Naxal-hit areas.
In another move, the Centre has made mandatory rotational training of each and every personnel of a battalion. Earlier, training nodes were established at various locations, where rotational training was imparted by trained instructors of CRPF as well as ex-Army men.
Five Naxals Held
Meanwhile, five naxals were arrested on Saturday during a joint search operation in the Maoist-hit Bijapur district of southern Chhattisgarh, the police said. The cadres were nabbed on Saturday evening from the forests of Gorla village under Madded police station, located over 400 kms from Raipur, said a PTI report.