In a first, two women officers joined Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) as Assistant Commandants on Sunday. They joined the ITBP after passing out from ITBP Academy in Mussoorie.
At the Academy, the rank ceremony was held in the presence of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Both the officers – Prakriti and Diksha – go by their first names.
The appointment of women combat officers as company commanders was started by ITBP through UPSC/CAPF exams in 2016.
Both the women combatised officers are part of 42 Assistant Commandants (GD) and 11 Assistant Commandants (Engineer). They were participants in the passing-out parade conducted at the Academy.
While Diksha is the daughter of serving Inspector Kamlesh Kumar in the ITBP, Prakriti is an electrical engineer.
During the passing-out parade, CM Dhami told the officers, “You are lucky that you have got the opportunity to serve ITBP, which is deployed on the borders of Tibet and China.”
“My father is my role model. He never considered me less than anyone,” Diksha was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the first ‘History of ITBP’ book was released during the ceremony. This book has numerous unseen pictures and facts about the border-guarding force.
“The book has been published in view of making a reference volume of factual history and knowledge about the force for the officers and jawans. It will also be useful for administrative and training purposes and is the official history of the force,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.
The officers will be posted across ITBP formations in the country, including the India-China Line of Actual Control and the anti-Naxal operations theatre in Chhattisgarh.
Congratulating the 53 young officers, CM Dhami said, “I am the son of a soldier and I have seen the army closely. I have seen the struggles of their families.”
42 out of the 53 officers are in the general duty combat cadre. 11 of them are in the engineering cadre.
