Aiming at closer involvement of the population residing along the border with the country's mainstream, the Border Security Force (BSF) has initiated a vocational training programme which will generate employment for them in private sector.
The border guarding force, which is deployed along the frontiers of Pakistan and Bangladesh, has partnered with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to train and subsequently create job opportunities both for the border population and families of the force personnel, in partnership with corporates.
Union Home Ministry and Jammu and Kashmir government are already running a similar programme aimed at providing jobs to 40,000 Kashmiri youth over five years.
"The initiative is aimed at bringing the border population into the national mainstream and the thinking is that once the people engaged in criminal activities get employment, the cross-border crime will reduce automatically," BSF Deputy Inspector General and nodal officer of the initiative Vijay Sakhare told PTI.
The force will earn the goodwill and confidence of locals which goes a long way in ensuring security at the borders, he added.
