First batch of women ITBP troopers passes out

PANCHKULA - It was a proud moment for 209 new constables Friday as they became the first batch of women to be inducted into the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the border with China, at an impressive parade at the ITBP training centre near here.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram flew in to take the salute from the new troopers at the passing out parade.

“It gives me great pleasure that I am present on the occasion of passing out of first batch of women. It’s always a proud moment when you are a first. These 209 girls will always cherish this moment as this day has been written in golden letters in the history of ITBP,” Chidambaram said in his address after taking the salute.

“Now these girls will guard the border of our country and the high reaches of Himalayas. Besides 150 more girls, who are presently undergoing training, will pass out in May. Soon ITBP will have its full-fledged women’s battalion,” he added.

The parade was held at the ITBP training camp in Bhanu near this Haryana town, around 25 km from state capital Chandigarh. These recruits will be the first women to be deployed along the India-China border by the ITBP.

The new recruits had undergone a 44-week rigorous training session, during which they were trained in firing mortars, light machine guns, Insas rifles, carbines and grenade launchers. They were also imparted training in counter-insurgency operations, map reading and field craft.

ITBP Director General Vikram Srivastava said these women would also be given training in skiing and high altitude mountaineering.

“Out of these girls we will constitute quick reaction teams and bomb disposal squads. We do not discriminate between men and women. The training is the same for everyone,” he said.

The women will be mainly deployed along the Nathu La Pass where trade takes place between India and China and also for the pilgrimage to the Kailash Mansarovar through Uttarakhand to Tibet. They will also guard the borders and undertake internal security duties.

“We will break the taboo that only men can take up border guarding duties or fight militants. We are trained and now want to prove our mettle in front of everyone,” Poonam Johari, one of the 290 troopers, told IANS.

“We are not scared of anyone. We will perform whatever duties are given to us,” Johari, 20, who is also an international boxer, said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) last year had also inducted its first batch of around 200 women troopers. In September, they were deployed along the 553 km fenced India-Pakistan border in Punjab and at the India-Bangladesh border.