The Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force, which was originally raised in 1835 as Chachar Levy. It is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the North-East along with the Indian Army and also guards the Indo-Myanmar border (IMB) in the region.
Challenges faced by the Assam Rifles regarding security management in the North-East:

• Dual control: While the administrative control of the force is with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The MHA wants more units to be deployed along the border, while the MoD wants more troops in the hinterland for counter-insurgency operations.
• Free Movement Regime: Movement of people of the same ethnicity on either side of the border in some states in the North-East complicates the task of maintaining a check on insurgency and smuggling.
• Refugees: Influx of refugees may cause internal security issues like clashes with native population, involvement in illegal activities, etc.
• Manpower: Out of total 46 battalions, approximately one third are deployed along the border, which roughly means that each battalion has a frontage of 100 km in a difficult terrain, which is open to infiltration by inimical elements, smugglers, illegal migrants, etc.
• Training: While training is the responsibility of the Director General Assam Rifles (DGAR), sparing of manpower for the same is under the Army. Since the units are stretched because of deployment on the ground, there is a constant tussle to find convergence.

To overcome these challenges there is requirement of reorientation of the Assam Rifles in the following manner:

• Command and control: Placing the Assam Rifles under a single Ministry will ensure that a single head exercises powers over it with greater accountability.
• Operationalisation of the Director General of the Assam Rifles (DGAR): With increasing focus on security concerns regarding China, operationalising the DGAR headquarters under the Eastern Command headquarters has become imperative.
• Additional raisings: A minimum of one IG headquarter along with approximately 15 units will bring down the frontage of each unit to a manageable level (50 kms).
• Fencing: The whole Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB) must be fenced starting from areas where it is possible and slowly expanded to difficult areas.
• Revisiting the Free Movement Regime (FMR): Owing to the security concerns, the FMR needs to be revisited both in terms of distance and time period.
• Budgetary support: The budgetary increase should enable modernisation and better administration of the force. As per the MHA’s annual report, the Assam Rifles budget in 2020-21 has increased by 20 percent from 2015-16 as compared to 31 percent to 48 percent for the other CAPFs.

It is time to take cognizance of the multifarious threats existing in the North-East, recognize the capacity of the Assam Rifles and empower it fully to protect India’s borders and ensure stability in the North-East.