Border Security Force

Border Security Force सीमा सुरक्षा बल
Abbreviation	BSF सी सु ब
Emblem of the Border Security Force
Motto	जीवन पर्यन्त कर्तव्य (Duty Unto Death)
Agency overview
Formed	1 December, 1965
Employees	257,025 Active Personnel
Annual budget	₹15,569.11 crore (US$2.3 billion) (2016-17)
Legal personality	Non government: Central Armed Police Forces
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency	IN
Governing body	Ministry of Home Affairs (India)
Constituting instrument	Border Security Force Act, 1972
General nature	Federal law enforcement Civilian agency
Specialist jurisdictions	National border patrol, security, and integrity. Paramilitary law enforcement, counter insurgency, armed response to civil unrest, counter terrorism, special weapons operations.
Operational structure
Headquarters	New Delhi, India
Minister responsible	Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs
Agency executive	K.K Sharma, Director General, BSF
Parent agency	Ministry of Home Affairs
Facilities
Boats	100+
Planes	22 Aircraft (as of 2009)
Website
bsf.nic.in

The Border Security Force (BSF) (Hindi: सीमा सुरक्षा बल) is the primary Border guarding force of India. It is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India, it was raised in the wake of the 1965 War on 1 December 1965, "for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected there with". It is a Central Armed Police Force charged with guarding India's land border during peacetime and preventing transnational crime. It is a Union Government Agency under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs. The BSF has its own cadre of officers but its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service. It is an Armed Force of the Union of India tasked with various assignments from time to time. The BSF has grown exponentially from a few battalions in 1965, to 186 battalions with a sanctioned strength of 257,025 personnel including an expanding air wing, marine wing, artillery regiments, and commando units. It currently stands as the world's largest border guarding force. BSF has been termed as the First Line of Defence of Indian Territories.

From independence in 1947 to 1965, the protection of India's international boundaries was the responsibility of local police belonging to each border state, with little inter-state coordination. BSF is a Central Armed Police force charged with guarding India's land border during peacetime and preventing transnational crime. It is a Union Government Agency under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs. It is one of many law enforcement agency of India. It currently stands as the world's largest border guarding force.

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 demonstrated the inadequacies of the existing border management system and led to the formation of the Border Security Force as a unified central agency with the specific mandate of guarding India's international boundaries. The KF Rustamji, from the Indian police service, was the first Director General of BSF. Till 1965 India’s borders with Pakistan were manned by the State Armed Police Battalion. Pakistan attacked Sardar Post, Chhar Bet and Beria Bet on 9 April 1965 in Kutch. This exposed the inadequacy of the State Armed Police to cope with armed aggression due to which the Government of India felt the need for a specialised centrally controlled Border Security Force, which would be armed and trained to man the International Border with Pakistan. As a result of the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries, the Border Security Force came into existence on 1 Dec 1965 with K F Rustamji as its first Director General.