Defence of India 路 Prelims

CAPF, Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard for UPSC

Who reports where - and why Assam Rifles keeps showing up in odd options.

Central Armed Police Forces sit under the Ministry of Home Affairs, not MoD. That single line kills half the wrong options in this corner of the syllabus.

ForceUsual Prelims hook
CRPFInternal security, counter-insurgency, election and law-and-order duties
BSFIndia-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders
ITBPIndia-China (Tibet) frontier
SSBIndia-Nepal and India-Bhutan borders
CISFIndustrial and critical infrastructure security
Assam RiflesMHA on paper; Army often holds operational control in the North-East

Indian Coast Guard

Coast Guard is an armed force of the Union, but it is not one of the three services. Regional headquarters:

RegionHQ
Western RegionMumbai
Eastern RegionChennai
North-East RegionKolkata
Andaman and Nicobar RegionPort Blair
North-West RegionGandhinagar

Assam Rifles is the awkward dual-control example examiners enjoy: administrative link with MHA, operational picture often with the Army in the North-East.

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