Intelligence Bureau (IB) has played a pivotal role in maintaining internal security. IB, acknowledging efforts of its officers, nearly 130 years after its inception, is going to recognize its officers and those in the state intelligence wings for exceptional performance with a medal of its own – Asadharan Aasuchna Kushalta Padak (medal for extraordinary intelligence gathering).
Three IPS officers and 34 other intelligence officers were the first recipients of the medal. The Medal was given for their immense contribution in maintaining security in Jammu and Kashmir, North East India and Maoist infected regions. These officers have played pivotal role in curbing terror activities like terror funding and other organizational activities in the affected regions.
The officers cannot be named because of the confidential nature of their work.
IB, in a quiet attempt to recognize exceptional service by their officers, in 2012 had put a small memorial for the officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty, in IB’s South Delhi office. The ministry of home affairs had put together a committee in 2016 to look into the demand by some senior officials to recognize officers for their exceptional service to the nation.
“Intelligence officers put their lives in harm’s way. Besides, how do you encourage specialization in critical fields if they are not recognized,” a senior official of the MHA said.
“Restricted to the background by the nature of our work, the contribution of intelligence to state policy remains buried in the labyrinth. How does one motivate officers? Importantly, in the states, bright and capable officers do not want to do intelligence work because it’s dreary by nature and anonymous by the requirement. Recognizing them within the community will help break this indifference,” Avinash Mohananey, who has been a part of IB’s anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir for many years, said.
This medal will be specific to officers of the Intelligence Bureau and will be given only once to an officer in his/her lifetime.
Until the Asadharan Aasuchna Kushalta Padak was instituted, recognition to intelligence officers was limited to police medals only. “There were restrictions because only a certain number of police medals could be given away and the entire police community had to be accommodated,” a senior officer said.
Shrouded in secrecy, Intelligence Bureau is mostly responsible to collect sensitive information from within India mainly the border areas and to assist anti-terror operations if needed. IB has reportedly had a lot of successes in their efforts however operations undertaken by the IB are rarely unclassified. IB was initially both external and internal intelligence service agency. However, after the establishment of Research and Analysis Wing, IB was given the duty to cover internal intelligence projects.
Change in Government policy and proactive efforts to recognize efforts of thousands of officers who work for the security of our nation is certainly a positive step in a direction of efficient and committed workforces among all agencies who had been going unrecognized for long.