What is the Full Form of ITBP? 

The full form of ITBP is Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Headquartered in New Delhi its main responsibility is to protect the borders of India with Tibet. It is one of the seven prestigious Central Armed Police Forces of India which is also popularly known as HIMVEER as the area that is patrolled by them comes primarily under snow-clad mountain range. 

History of ITBP  

Constituted on 24 October 1964 according to the CRPF act, ITBP was formed to reorganise security set-up and frontier intelligence along the Indo-Tibetan border.  The decision for its formation was taken when India was facing Indo-China military conflicts and because of this, only four battalions were sanctioned.

In September 1994, the Parliament of India passed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992 to keep the borders of India safe and secure. Inspector General – Balbir Singh was the first head of ITBP who previously worked for the Intelligence Bureau. In 2004, Assam Rifles which serves in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh was replaced by ITBP according to GoM recommendations on “One Border One Force”. After this ITBP became responsible was guarding the entire area of the Indo-China border having 3488 km. 

Functions of ITBP  

• To perform relief and rescue operations whenever natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc. occur.
• To guard and patrol the northern borders in order to ensure security along the borders of India. 
•  Detecting and Preventing the Violations of Borders.
• To provide a sense of security to people living in the villages that are near borders.
• To keep a check on illegal immigration, smuggling and other crimes through the borders.
• To ensure peace and order during the time of disturbance in an area.
• To provide security to banks, governed buildings, etc. like New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Sikkim’s Rumtek Monastery, etc. 
• To organise a lot of medical programmes and camps in order to provide health-related assistance to people living in remote and terrorism-affected areas. 
• Ensuring safety and providing medical assistance to the people who have gone on pilgrimage at Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and more.

How to Become an ITBP Officer? 

The exam for the recruitment of Assistant Commander in ITBP is held every year and is conducted by UPSC. All the important information related to recruitment and examination like no. of vacancies, posts, examination pattern, etc. is released on the official website of ITBP. 

The recruitment process comprises the following three stages:

1. UPSC CAPF Written Exam
2. Physical Efficiency Test (PET) and Medical Standards Test
3. Personality Test or Interview

ITBP Training centres

ITBP has various training centres located all across the country to provide training to its personnel. Following are some of the training centres of ITBP: 

• Dog Training Centre, Bhanu
• High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), Gulmarg
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police Academy (ITBPA), Chandigarh
• Basic Training Centre, Tiger Camp
• Advance Training Centre, Mussoorie
• Combat Training Centre, Gwaldam
• Mountaineering and Skiing Institute, Auli

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