48 young officers commissioned into CRPF

Forty-eight officers, including four women, were Sunday commissioned into the country's largest paramilitary force CRPF after a passing-out parade reviewed by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu here.

Naidu told the 50th batch of the Directly Appointed Gazetted Officers (DAGOs), to be appointed as Assistant Commandants in the paramilitary, to lead by example and be concerned about the issues and grievances of the troops under their command.

He also asked the top brass of the over 3-lakh strong Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to seriously think about ways to enhance avenues of promotion for the personnel and fill existing vacancies.

Naidu said it was a "concern" that many officers and jawans of the force sought voluntary retirement or had resigned from the service over the last few years.

The vice president, after the passing-out parade held at the CRPF officers academy in Kadarpur village area here, awarded the best performing trainee officers and wished them success in their future endeavours in the three main internal security theatres of the country -- Left-wing extremism, insurgency in the northeast and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The young officers inducted Sunday have been trained for 52-weeks in battle craft, unarmed combat, police law and tactics as they now join the officer entry rank of the force.

"There are 11 post graduates and as many as 37 engineering graduates in the 50th birthday of the DAGOs passing out today.

"The batch bears a pan-Indian character with the trainee officers representing as many as 16 states of the country having different socio-educational background," a senior officer said.

After the parade, the Assistant Commandant rank were 'piped' on the uniforms of the trainee officers by their parents and senior officials.

During the event, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar said the force is improving its tactics and technology to meet the challenges of the future.

The CRPF was raised in 1939 under the Britishers as the Crown Representatives Police and was re-named to the current nomenclature after Independence.