India’s largest paramilitary force is struggling to get young officers, especially for units that are involved in operations. Left with no option, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has once again broadened the induction age limits of officers and jawans in its specialised units.
Even in restive areas like Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-hit regions, a vacuum of young officers has compelled the force to relax the age brackets about every 6-8 months.
In the past two years, the induction age limits for officers and jawans in the CRPF’s elite jungle warfare unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) has been widened three times to fill vacancies amid an acute crunch. A new order was issued on Monday, describing the new age policy for CoBRA.
The matter of ageing commanders was also discussed in a directorate general meeting in August and the force accepted that there is a problem of not having enough young officers.
Officials in CRPF said that before 2019 the maximum age of assistant commandant rank officials to join CoBRA was up to 30 years, which, as per the new order issued on Monday, has increased to below 40.
Similarly, for officers at the deputy commandant level, the maximum age of induction in CoBRA has gone up from 38 to 43 in two years.
Data accessed by News18 shows that the maximum number of commandants are close to 50 years of age. Only about half a dozen are below 45.
“The issue is that when you are doing an operation or are involved in it, you may have to climb, stay at a place for days, walk a lot, run, jump, etc. Age plays a very important role and there have been cases where the officer who was leading the operation failed to fulfil the physical requirements, failing to achieve the desired results, and the quality of operations is bound to suffer in such a scenario,” a senior CoBRA official told News18.
At the commander level, who lead big anti-terror and anti-Naxal operations, the age bracket has widened as well.
“The force, which needs young energetic commander level officers on the ground, has to operate under officers who are at the age of 46 or more,” said a senior CoBRA official. “Even in specialised forces like the National Security Guards (NSG), the maximum age at the level of assistant commandant is 33. Similarly, at deputy commandant level, the maximum age is 38.”
When News18 contacted an NSG official, he said that an order briefing about age limits has been issued this month. According to it, the maximum age in the force at the level of assistant commandant is 33, whereas the same is 40 for CoBRA and operations units of CRPF.
“If somebody is joining at the age of 48 at the level of a commandant, how can you expect the person to keep up with a 25-year-old jawan? The entry for commandants in CoBRA is now up to 48 years. They stay in the unit until they reach close to 50 or cross it,” a CoBRA official explained.
News 18 has contacted CRPF for an official version of the developments. The article will be updated when a reply is received.
News18 also spoke to cadre officers who said that due to lack of timely promotions, the CRPF is forced to up the age limit. “I have been working as assistant commandant whereas my batchmates in other forces have become deputy commandants. If there is no timely promotion, the force will never get young officers to lead operations,” a CRPF official told News18.
There have been cases where an officer starts at the lowest level possible and remains there for 15-16 years or maybe more, said a senior official. “Officers who joined the force at the age of 23 as assistant commandants are working at the same rank but they are now 35-38. In such a scenario, the force has to broaden its age limits to accommodate such officers,” he said.
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