As it fights infiltration while guarding the frontier, the BSF has hit upon a novel idea to make inroads into the villages in Punjab along the international border Pakistan, and prevent the youth from falling into the trap of the drug menace while giving wings to their foreign shores dreams.
The Border Security Force is now providing IELTS coaching to youngsters under its civic action programme. It has already trained 50 youths out of which three girls have cleared the IELTS exam.
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is one of the most sought after English language proficiency tests for study, migration or work abroad. An estimated 30 lakh people take the test every year and is accepted by thousands of employers, universities, schools and immigration bodies around the globe.
Explaining how they came up with the initiative, Inspector General, BSF, Punjab Frontier, Atul Fulzele said, “Some villagers in Amarkot (in Tarn Taran) approached the officers of our 103rd battalion deployed in that area and said they did not have the required money for IELTS training. They sought our help”.
He said the force utilised funds provided by the Union government for civic action works to hire two “good English speaking” teachers who coached “around 50 youth, including a sizeable number of girls”. In fact, he said, “three girls have cleared the exam”.
Fulzele said the aim for imparting this coaching was to provide youth with valuable skills, diverting them from drug abuse and smuggling, and helping them gain a foothold in the global job market.
Asked if providing this coaching would lead the state’s youngsters to leave the country and work abroad and was in contrast to the BSF’s “nation first” motto, Fulzele said the initiative was undertaken as the children had shown interest. “It is a skill … We are giving them a skill to go to the world and prove themselves,” he said, adding under its community engagement programme, the BSF also trains youth with skills including cellphone and motor repair.
He further informed that the BSF has made significant strides in countering illegal drone activity along the border. The IG said that the smuggling of narcotics was being carried out mostly via drones. “All the cross-border drugs coming into Punjab are now coming through drones. The earlier method of smuggling the contraband using pipes and other concealed methods through land is not taking place now…it is negligible,” the IG said, adding the force intercepted 137 drones in the first six months compared to 160 in 2023.
The IG said smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunition from the neighbouring country into India through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was not possible “without the tacit understanding and approval of state-sponsored elements and authorities” on the other side of the fence.
The launch pads of the drones, he said, are generally near International border or close to the Pakistani border posts, he said.
Fulzele said that bigger drones have stopped coming since October last year and now smaller ones, which make very less sound and are not visible, are being sent from Pakistan to India.
The IG said the BSF did an analysis and deployed a new strategy to “follow and trace” the drones in-depth and recovered them along with their droppings including heroin, pistols and bullet rounds.
The BSF fails to catch or shoot down some drones that fly 1,000 metres or above but “we are able to catch a good number of them, especially those that fly low”.
We have informed our Pakistani counterparts about this through all available means, including diplomatic channels, but they are “generally in the denial mode”, he said.
The force, he said has deployed CCTV cameras along the Punjab-Jammu inter-state border to fortify security in the wake of a spurt in terrorist incidents in Jammu along the India-Pakistan front. He said additional troops have been deployed along the Gurdaspur area in Pathankot district that abuts Jammu. “We used to have linear deployment here but now we have set up nakas (posts) in depth with additional deployment points and CCTVs installed in large numbers. We are fully alert in this area,” he said.
We are also dominating the Ravi and Sutlej river areas with the installation of CCTV cameras in “big numbers”, he said, adding the force is going on an “operations alert” mode from August 10 all along the 553 km of the Punjab border in view of the Independence Day celebrations on August 15, he said
The BSF Punjab frontier seized more than 160 kg of heroin, 28 weapons, 40 magazines, and 374 bullet rounds this year. A total of 24 Pakistani nationals were apprehended along this front out of which 12 were handed back to Pakistan Rangers. One intruder from Pakistan was also killed during this year.