The Rashtriya Rifles: The temporary force that stayed 36 years
The Rashtriya Rifles, originally intended as a temporary counter-insurgency force in India, has evolved into a permanent and highly decorated military formation over 36 years. The article examines the bureaucratic inertia and the force's significant role in Jammu and Kashmir.
Why it matters
It highlights the phenomenon of 'permanent temporary' government institutions and the evolution of military structures in response to long-term regional conflicts.
The Rashtriya Rifles was raised as a force that could be wound up by executive order. Thirty-six years later, it is among the Indian Army’s most decorated formations.Indian governments have a particular talent for the permanent temporary arrangement. The Calcutta tram, which has spent most of my adult life apparently months away from abolition, is one example. The Rashtriya Rifles is another, though rather better armed.When it was raised on 1 October 1990, with six battalions - three sent to Punjab, three to Jammu and Kashmir - the RR was constituted under a provision of the Union Composite Table that allowed it to be disbanded by executive order.
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