'We have adapted to ground reality' :CRPF Chief

From The times Of India
Oct 10,2010
K Vijay Kumar, a 1975 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, took over as chief of the CRPF this week, amidst mounting concern about the challenges faced by the force. With an impressive resume, Kumar was probably the best candidate to lead the force at this juncture. He will be under pressure to deliver, with the CRPF confronted by diverse problems in Kashmir, the Maoist belt and the northeast. On the phone from Chhattisgarh, where he is on his first official visit as CRPF director general, Kumar spoke to Josy Joseph 

Summer in Kashmir, the massacre at Dantewada, 2010 has not been a good year for the CRPF and the change of leadership comes at a testing time. 

There will be certain phases in the life of an organization. We will not be stuck in a situation. We are in a constant go-ahead. There would be certain reverses, some hard patches that are but natural for a dynamic organization. Eventually a force with resilience and inner strength will emerge stronger. 

The CRPF has come to be the face of India's war against many raging insurgencies. You have gone from being a reserve police force to being out in strength in major theatres for a very long time. 
There are several forces involved in counter-insurgency operations. The BSF is there. But yes, we are out there in large numbers. We have replaced the BSF in J&K in the recent years. 

You aren't getting the kind of rest and recuperation that army's counter-insurgency units are able to afford... 

Yes, rest and recuperation is a subject being addressed. I understand that some of this is being addressed by the home ministry. I am also trying to understand the precise functions and they are on my key agenda in the ongoing field visits. Wherever internally possible, I am telling my field commanders to do adjustments to provide our personnel with proper support and rest. Other things, the larger issues, we will look into it with the ministry. 

The CRPF was originally meant to be the 'reserve' force. But you are now out there, deployed in theatre for years. 
It is a reflection of ground reality. Various things happen. No organization can be stationary. You have to adapt. The very reason why the Rapid Action Force was created in the early 90s was because of a particular situation that emerged in those days. Similar responses suitable to the environment will have to emerge. 

There has been concern about the kind of disconnect between the leadership and men on the ground within the CRPF. 

We have a very outstanding leadership, you cannot generalize. I have seen very little of the force now for me to comment in detail but I am convinced that you cannot generalize about any kind of disconnect. I find patrol leaders and company commanders doing great work in the field here (Chhattisgarh). I don't think there is any scope to generalize about any leadership drawbacks, but if there are any aberrations we will address them. I am very privileged to be leading this force. 

Your role is significantly changing in places like Kashmir, where the original mandate was to be a counter-insurgency force. Today, you are doing more crowd control than anything else. 

I understand that already there has been some kind of discussion on this issue. We have a multiple theatre kind of situation — riot control, counter-insurgency and law and order. These need specialized groups. We will look at expanding such responses.

Read more: 'We have adapted to ground reality' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/We-have-adapted-to-ground-reality/articleshow/6721393.cms#ixzz11yOSWwjk