To revamp training module, BSF contacts mgmt institutes

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 15

To inculcate “distinct military leadership skills” in officers at various levels, the Border Security Force (BSF) is revamping its training curriculum for which it is approaching eminent management institutions to develop rank-specific modules covering an array of managerial topics.

Strategic planning for border guarding, crisis management, decision making, motivational skills, human resource management, leadership skills, stress management, team building and flexibility are among proficiencies that the BSF is look at developing in its cadre.

Training curriculum would be developed for officers from the level of Assistant Commandant, the entry level, to Deputy Inspector General. For the senior ranks, budgeting and financial management, negotiations, resource management, conflict and character management, change management and exposure to contemporary business models and practices would also be part of the curriculum, sources said.

Though officers keep evolving themselves during their service through learning experience, there is an inescapable requirement to fill the gap between age-old established military leadership traits and the modern management tools catering to the needs of the ever-changing geostrategic situation and socioeconomic conditions, a concept note prepared by the BSF states.

Hence there is a need to evolve a relevant, pragmatic and viable leadership and management programme for competency building of officers for overall operational and administrative functioning and efficiency of the organisation, the note adds.

BSF, the largest paramilitary force in the world, functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is currently responsible for the peace-time management of the 2289.66-km International Border with Pakistan and 4096.7-km border with Bangladesh. Some BSF battalions are also deployed along a 237.2-km stretch of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir under the operational control of the Army. It is also engaged in anti-Naxal operations as well as on internal security duties.