R.C. Sharma

The spread of Covid-19 has been a life-shattering jolt to the world and India is no exception. To contain its spread, the government of India enforced lockdown, billed as the biggest in the world. Presently, the nation is in the psychological grip of the pandemic. Border guarding forces like the Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), too, have been affected. The peculiar nature of duties of border guarding forces in hostile, rugged and difficult terrain coupled with psychological instability caused by worry for family have implications which affect security of the personnel individually, and in turn affects the organisation and nation.

A recent article in a daily newspaper said that the government has decided to shut the borders. India has a vast length of land borders which remain active all through the year. To say that India has shut the border is to make light of functional difficulties and challenges of border guarding forces. The guarding of India’s border 24x7 is an activity. There is no shutting down and no break for border guards. Border management of India’s borders, especially the densely populated Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh border, has always been a challenge and a nightmare for the border guards. Treacherous and rugged terrain, hostile weather and population, difficult living conditions and an aggressive and deceptive counterpart make border guarding challenging, dangerous and difficult.

The current pandemic has wide implications for border guarding forces. Yet, despite the difficulties, the personnel and executive leadership up to sector level are coping with the challenge efficiently and effectively. However, the higher leadership that should have been proactive in the crisis is unfortunately far away from action.

In India border guarding is manpower intensive. It involves physical domination of the international boundary day and night. This is carried out by patrolling, both on foot and vehicle, ambushes, ambush-cum-patrolling, hot interception, kisan guards and riverine domination physically by bank domination, speedboats and executive checks. To furthe