Cash, awards plan to fight border fatigue

New Delhi: Sensing that complacency and fatigue among troops stationed in the Kashmir Valley could well have a cascading impact on the country’s security, the Centre is now working on a comprehensive incentive plan for the forces by giving them Out-of-Turn promotions (OTPs), cash bonuses, enhanced career prospects and gallantry medals.

Currently, incentives are being offered to troops operating in terror and Naxal-infested sectors but the new policy is more discretionary in nature where recommendations are made by senior officers and eventually cleared by the heads of the armed forces or the civilian leadership.

The fresh plans could also create a uniform policy which will lay down guidelines and procedures that will make troops — who have executed any major operation — entitled to such incentives.

Senior security experts argue that troops from the para-military and Army — operating in militant-infested areas such as the Kashmir Valley — often have to put in long hours without adequate rest or leave, causing a dip in focus and a rise in stress levels.

This is one of the chief reasons behind incidents like the Uri attack, a senior security official said.  Preliminary investigations into the case have revealed that the outer cordon security wire was cut at two different places and the group of four militants came 150 meters inside the camp, virtually unchallenged. The intrusion is being seen as major failure of Standard Operating Procedures.