In an order, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “Raina, serving as an Inspector General (IG) at the ITBP central sector headquartered in Bhopal, is being elevated to the ADG rank apart from another officer, IG Jaspal Singh, for the panel year 2024.”

It is to be noted here that Raina, 59, will serve in the new post for just over a month as he is scheduled to retire next month, but the decision has a huge symbolic importance for the Force’s cadre officers, who are recruited at the level of Assistant Commandant.

To induct Raina in the rank of the ADG, a rank piping ceremony was held at the ITBP headquarters on Lodhi Road here on Thursday, August 22, 2024, in the presence of the force’s Director General (DG) Rahul Rasgotra and other senior officers.

According to officials following his elevation, Raina has now been posted as the ADG (western command) of the ITBP, which is headquartered in Chandigarh, the order said. 

The Western Command formation looks after the deployment of the force along the LAC in Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh apart from supervising units located in Punjab, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.

The officials further confirmed that Raina’s elevation is only the second case in the force, which was raised in 1962, when a cadre officer was elevated to the ADG level, which is the second highest rank in the force after the DG.

The ADG post in the ITBP and other central armed police forces (CAPFs) is essentially occupied by officers who come on deputation to these organisations from the Indian Police Service (IPS).

A senior ITBP official said, “The decision on Raina’s elevation came very late, as the meeting of the departmental promotion committee was delayed. Jaspal Singh will be appointed ADG after Raina's retirement and he too will retire in a few months in December.” 

Raina, who hails from Kashmir, joined the ITBP in November, 1987 and has served tenures in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, and northeast, and is also credited with setting up the famous counter-insurgency and jungle warfare (CIJW) school in Uttarakhand.

The first time an ITBP cadre officer was elevated to the level of ADG was in 2020. MS Rawat was the first officer, who donned the position of the ADG and he was also assigned to lead the Western Command at Chandigarh. 

Rawat was known for his vast field and training experience acquired both in India and abroad. At the time he was promoted, he was heading the Operations branch of the ITBP at its headquarters in New Delhi.

It is to be noted here that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has, consistently, been emphasising the need to enhance the operational efficiency of the paramilitary forces along with improving India’s border guarding mechanism.

The ITBP’s Western Command looks after India’s border with China in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

Apart from the LAC, the ITBP, having a strength of about 98,000 personnel, is also deployed to provide a number of internal security duties in the country including anti-Naxal operations.