The Army should be relieved from counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations within the country as the deployment is straining its resources at the expense of its conventional war fighting potential, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence said in its report tabled in Parliament on Monday.
Endorsing the Defence Ministry’s point of view that internal security situations should ideally be handled by State and para-military forces, the Parliamentary panel said, “If it is decided to relieve the Army from counter-insurgency operations, the personnel will be available to undertake their regular duties along the boundaries.”
The Ministry said that the army should be deployed in such counter-insurgency operations only as a last resort when the State or para-military forces have proved to be ineffective. Incidentally, the Army is deployed in various parts of the country for such operations for last many years including Jammu & Kashmir and North-East.
The Committee asked the Ministry to discuss the “matter with higher echelons in light of the recommendations and relive Army from counter insurgency operations so that the personnel deployed in operations are available to undertake their regular duties.”
The Parliamentary panel pulled up the Government for “lackadaisical attitude” in filling the deficiency of 1.86 lakh bullet proof jackets for soldiers engaged in counter-insurgency operations.
“It has come as a shock to the committee that these jackets are still in the process of procurement even after the lapse of four years of getting approval from the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC),” the panel noted. The total requirement was more than three lakh jackets and the panel asked the ministry to fast track procurement to save lives of soldiers.