Raised at Shillong in November 2010 and affiliated to the Assam Regiment, the Arunachal Scouts have two battalions recruited largely from Arunachal Pradesh.
A governor's proposal, 2008
General J. J. Singh had commanded the Army before he became Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, and in 2008 he proposed that the state should have a unit like the Ladakh Scouts. The Union Cabinet took up the matter in 2009. The Chief Minister of the time, Dorjee Khandu, pressed the Centre for a unit raised for Arunachal, and he attended the raising ceremony of the 1st Battalion at Shillong in November 2010.
The first battalion was not built from nothing. Its founding ranks came from the Assam Regiment, which was raised on 15 June 1941 to defend the eastern frontier against the Japanese and draws its troops from the northeastern states. That parentage has stayed in place. The Scouts are affiliated to the Assam Regiment, receive their training, mentoring and regimental support from it, and use its insignia and flag with the words "Arunachal Scouts" added. A retired Air Force officer writing in The Arunachal Times in 2024 simply described them as part of the Assam Regiment.
Terms of service
The logic of the unit is local knowledge. Its soldiers know the terrain, the customs and the languages of a state with a great many tribal dialects, and they need no acclimatisation for the heights at which they serve. The Assam Tribune reported the arrangements in some detail during the early years:
The same report said the Scouts' main duties were patrolling and surveillance along the border, and that they had not been used for law and order. The force was also partly meant to ease youth unemployment in the state.
- Entry between the ages of 18 and 21
- A training course of about a year at the Assam Regimental Centre in Shillong, followed by training on the job
- Pay and benefits equal to those of other Army personnel
- Promotion open as far as Subedar Major, with a commission possible for those qualified
- Command of each battalion by an Army colonel
Umroi, 1 June 2013
The 2nd Battalion was raised on 1 June 2013 at Umroi Cantonment in Meghalaya under Colonel Neelesh Anand Pagulwar, on the same "sons of the soil" principle. Some accounts date the second raising to 2012 or 2012-13, but the battalion itself marks 1 June 2013. It was inducted into Arunachal Pradesh on 8 March 2014.
At its tenth anniversary on 1 June 2023, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, the son of Dorjee Khandu, told the battalion: "This is our battalion. This is Arunachal's battalion." He also said the state was asking for more companies to be added to the Scouts. The call for expansion has come from outside the government as well. The 2024 Arunachal Times article argued for five or six battalions under the name of an Arunachal Regiment, with the McMahon Line at about 890 km as its justification. That remains one writer's proposal, and the formation stands at two battalions.
Raj Bhavan, 2022
Both battalions have received a Governor's Citation at Raj Bhavan in Itanagar, presented in each case by Governor Brigadier B. D. Mishra (Retd).
The 2nd Battalion received its citation on 28 March 2022. Three men accepted it: the Commanding Officer, Colonel Anujoy Bhaumik; Subedar Major Tashi Gurung; and the battalion's junior-most sepoy, Mami Buchi. The Governor cited the unit's work on the Line of Actual Control and its help to local people with medical aid, basic construction and sanitation, and with coaching for Army recruitment. He also mentioned its outreach to Veer Naris and ex-servicemen about welfare schemes.
The 1st Battalion followed on 26 September 2022, at a ceremony shared with 97 Field Regiment and the 25th Battalion of the Madras Regiment. Colonel Mukul Sati, Subedar Major Dorjee Khandu Bapu and Sepoy Azepso Ngadong received it. Here the Governor singled out the battalion's help to the district administration and residents during emergencies, fires in particular.
On 15 February 2021 the Assam Regiment and the Arunachal Scouts signed a charter of affiliation at Tezpur with No. 106 Squadron of the Indian Air Force. Major General P. S. Behl signed as Colonel of the two formations, and Group Captain Varun Slaria signed for the squadron.
At a glance
- Raised: November 2010 (1st Battalion); 1 June 2013 (2nd Battalion)
- Regimental centre: Assam Regimental Centre, Happy Valley, Shillong