New Delhi, Aug 03: Parliament today passed a Bill to upgrade Assam Rifles, a paramilitary outfit, into an armed force with the Lok Sabha approving the legislation by a voice vote.

The Assam Rifles Bill, 2006, was earlier passed by Rajya Sabha in May this year.

The legislation incorporates some of the recommendations made by a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

According to the Bill, the command and supervision of the force will vest with the Director General who will be appointed by the Central Government.

It also provides for establishment of Assam Rifles Courts to try charges against its personnel.

"Courts will be held by officials trained in matters of law.

No single person will pronounce the judgement and if an accused objects to any official that official would not sit on the bench," Minister of State for Home Affairs S Raghupathy said replying to a brief debate on the Bill.

He said the decision of the Court would have to be confirmed by the Home Ministry.

The legislation says the force has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring security of borders, to carry out comprehensive insurgency operations and to assist civilian authorities in maintaining law and order.

The Bill was brought because the para-military force has grown from five battalions in 1950 to 46 at present.

It was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in May 2003 but lapsed following dissolution of the 13th Lok Sabha.

Participating in the debate, Bachchi Singh Rawat (BJP) said the Bill should also contain provisions for pensions and granting canteen facilties to the personnel.

"Special scholarships should also be extended to their children," added the MP.

Kirip Chaliha (Cong) stressed the need to ensure housing for the force personnel.

He suggested that since the force operated mostly in the NorthEast, the Government should try and ensure that people from the region were accorded priority in recruitment.

Samajwadi Party's Shailender Kumar lauded the role of Assam Rifles.

However, he said efforts should be made to understand their psychological and mental stress levels considering the high pressure job they were engaged in.

RJD's Ganesh Prasad Singh said Assam Rifles personnel should be provided housing and health facilities and their children should be given proper education. These demands were also echoed by Sugrib Singh (BJD) and Shiv Sena's Suresh Prabhu.

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