In the midst of escalating tension with Pakistan, the Centre is considering strengthening the battle-worthiness and status of the Border Security Force (BSF) that guards the nearly 2,500-km-long western border and also plays some role in defending the treacherous Line of Control (LoC).

The international border with Pakistan, running across parts of Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, is highly prone to terrorist infiltration and drug smugglers.

Hence, the Centre is planning a BSF Air Wing as a self-regulatory establishment on lines of the Coast Guard. The Union home ministry has asked the ministry of civil aviation, defence and the Coast Guard to give their comments. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.

Though the BSF has its own air wing, it consists of a depleting fleet of Avros and Super King B-200 aircraft. Though it has the Dhruv and MI-17 helicopters, it has to take pilots on deputation from the Air Force, which does not allow the BSF to have full control of operational matters.

“If the proposal is cleared, it would propel BSF’s operational response and capabilities during exigencies that often crop up on international borders, especially in the western border with Pakistan,” sources said.

The Union home ministry has also given in-principal approval to give ‘battle casualty’ status to its jawans who get killed in the line of duty. Once cleared, it will confer martyr status to BSF soldiers who lay down their lives during action on a par with the armed forces. The Centre is also considering risk and hardship allowance to BSF personnel, again on a par with the army.

“Though called a Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), the BSF’s operational use is almost the same as that of the army in defending the borders, and, in many areas, it acts as the first responder against aggression,” said sources. Sources, however, said that the home minister also warned the BSF top brass not to pass the buck during infiltration and make the border impregnable instead.

The meeting reviewed the upgradation of existing border outposts to composite BOPs, construction of advance fibre-reinforced polymer posts (FRPs) on high altitude, forward defended localities on LoC in J&K and the acquisition of land for newly sanctioned battalions.

Sources said work in most of these issues is in the finalisation stage. Officials privy to the meeting said that Rajnath Singh has asked to put in place at the earliest the comprehensive integrated border management solutions (CIBMS) recommended by a committee headed by former home secretary Madhukar Gupta.