For a counter-insurgency force that is the largest of its kind in the world, the Rashtriya Rifles receives very little attention in discussions and writings on India’s endless war in Kashmir.

Staying out of the limelight, however, does not take away in any way the immense contributions made by this force in the past quarter century in India’s fight against Pakistan’s proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir.

The origins of the Rashtriya Rifles go back to the late 1980s when the Indian Army was overstretched, deployed as it was from Sri Lanka to Kashmir and from Punjab to North-east.

Under Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) had taken away four frontline divisions; insurgency in the North-east was still raging and Punjab was showing all signs of needing the Army’s helping hand in getting the trouble there under control.

Towards the end of the 1980s, it became clear that a special force was required to deal with India’s turbulent internal security situation; a credible force which would prevent frequent deployment of the Army’s frontline formations and units on internal security.

Regular infantry units were getting less time to rest and recuperate.The top brass under then Army Chief General SF Rodrigues (who succeeded Sundarji) decided to make the Rashtriya Rifles an all-army force. The government was still reluctant to put its full weight behind the idea

Old timers recall that the dominant thought process in 1990 at the highest levels in government was still to push in two divisions of the Army — the 39th and 6th — into counter-insurgency operations.

The Army top brass resisted fiercely and insisted on a specialised counter-insurgency force. Looking back, that decision not to deploy the 39th and 6th division (the latter Army Headquarters reserve) was perhaps the most crucial advice that the Army gave to the government.

Today, the Rashtriya Rifles has grown into a 65-battalion (nearly seven divisions!) force which has honed its counter-insurgency skills and may now be ready to do dual tasking of guarding the Line of Control.

Like the Assam Rifles in the North-east, the Rashtriya Rifles in J&K has emerged as a force that now has unmatched knowledge of the terrain, the people, local dynamics and most importantly, intelligence. It is now the spearhead of the Indian Army’s sub-conventional war doctrine.

In many ways, the Rashtriya Rifles remains a unique experiment in the Army’s ever-evolving improvisation, mainly because never in the past has such an ‘all-arms’, polyglot composition worked in tandem to produce such magnificent results.

Today, Rashtriya Rifles units are as battle-hardened, seasoned and effective as any infantry formation.

Coming under the leverage of India’s defence ministry, let’s talk about the composition & organisation of Indian Army’s most rugged bough. Each & every faction of Indian Army have a gubernatorial conformation popularly known as the war establishment.

War establishment is exerted to recline the tally of men, vehicles, weapons etc. which a faction is accredited to execute the role it is entrusted with.
In Indian Army, the infantry battalions have a pennant set-up known as the Inf Bn Standard.

Other types of infantry battalions are called by various modifications to the Inf Bn Standard according to their assigned role, like Inf Bn CI, Inf Bn Mountains, Parachute Inf Bn, Para Commando Bn and even (till 1975) Camel Mounted Bn.

Till the RR came into the existence, the infantry battalions tasked for CI ops were on the Inf Bn CI. The RR has an pennat structure tailor-made for CI operations.

Six companies of foot guards are present in every single RR battalion.
RR troops train on heavy battalion weapons which the Inf Bn CI carry but they’re left at the base during CI operations. Thus RR battalions do not incur the costs of a heavier unit.

It is also interesting to note how the current composition of Rashtriya Rifles units evolved. After initial teething trouble a new formula was evolved on the basic composition of Rashtriya Rifles units.

Indian Army regiments were told to raise two Rashtriya Rifles battalions and provide 60 per cent of the strength for each unit. The rest 40 per cent were drawn from all services and arms.

Additionally, the Commanding Officer and his No 2 were drawn from the same regiment. This ensured basic cohesion and discipline. The new formula also engendered a sense of ownership amongst the regiments.

Now as a matter of routine one finds a Rashtriya Rifles battalion proudly displaying its parent regiment’s name on display boards and sign posts. So, it is now common to see boards proudly displaying signs such as 36 Rashtriya Rifles (Garhwal) or 40 Rashtriya Rifles (Dogra)!

Apart from the cohesion, now more than evident, on a larger scale, the Rashtriya Rifles has allowed other arms and services to get a first-hand battle experience they would otherwise have lacked.

Officers from Armoured, Artillery, Engineers, Signals or even those from the Ordnance and Supply Corps would not have had the chance to gain real combat experience had it not been for the opportunity provided by Rashtriya Rifles.

Unlike other army units which were gyrated elsewhere from the valley, the RR abstraction is to gyrate personnel after fixed periods of deputation. Pronto it is 2-3 years. Legions of mighty RR are permanently unearthed in SECTORS.

Each sector is tantamount to a brigade with three battalions.
This biggest CIF with motto of "Dridhta Aur Veerta" has its own dress, insignia & flag logistics.

The RR units come under four "Counter Insurgency Force" (CIF) HQs. Each CIF is responsible for an area of the Kashmir Valley and Jammu Division. There were originally four CIFs, until the RR raised a fifth "Uniform" force in 2003–04 -

Romeo Force – Rajouri and Poonch
Delta Force – Doda
Victor Force – Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Budgam
Kilo Force – Kupwara, Baramulla and Srinagar
Uniform Force – Udhampur and Banihal

Victor & Kilo force comes up & running under 15 corps.
Delta & Romeo force comes under operational control of 16 corps.
Each force is headed by a general officer commanding (GOC) with the rank of a Major General.

The areas covered by the Counter Insurgency Forces are as follows-

Sector 1 – Anantnag district
Sector 2 – Kulgam district
Sector 3 – Manasbal Lake
Sector 4 – Doda district
Sector 5 – Baramulla district

Sector 6 – Poonch district
Sector 7 – Kupwara district
Sector 8 – Kupwara district
Sector 9 – Kishtwar district
Sector 10 – Baramulla district
Sector 11 – Banihal
Sector 12 – Budgam district

Encompassed by 65 battalions, the affiliations of them are as follows-
1 RR – Mahar Regiment
2 RR - Sikh Light Infantry
3 RR - Jammu & Kashmir Rifles
4 RR – Bihar Regiment
5 RR - Jat Regiment
7 RR – Punjab Regiment
9 RR - Rajputana Rifles
10 RR – Rajput Regiment

11 RR – Dogra Regiment
12 RR – The Grenadiers
13 RR – Kumaon Regiment (first RR battalion to receive Ashok Chakra)
14 RR - Garhwal Rifles
15 RR – 1 Gorkha Rifles
17 RR – Maratha Light Infantry
19 RR - Sikh Light Infantry

20 RR - Dogra Regiment
21 RR – Brigade of the Guards
22 RR – Punjab Regiment
23 RR - Rajput Regiment
24 RR - Bihar Regiment
25 RR - Army Air Defence
26 RR - Kumaon Regiment
27 RR - Maratha Light Infantry
28 RR - Jammu & Kashmir Rifles
29 RR - The Grenadiers
30 RR - Mahar Regiment

31 RR - Parachute Regiment
32 RR – 3 Gorkha Rifles
34 RR - Jat Regiment
35 RR - Assam Regiment
36 RR – Garhwal Rifles
37 RR - Punjab Regiment
38 RR - Madras Regiment
39 RR - The Grenadiers
41 RR - Maratha Light Infantry
42 RR - Assam Regiment
44 RR - Rajput Regiment

45 RR - Jat Regiment
46 RR - Sikh Regiment
47 RR - Bihar Regiment
48 RR - Garhwal Rifles
50 RR - Kumaon Regiment
51 RR - Mahar Regiment
52 RR - Jammu & Kashmir Rifles
53 RR - Punjab Regiment
55 RR - The Grenadiers

56 RR - Maratha Light Infantry
59 RR - Assam Regiment
60 RR - Naga Regiment
61 RR - Jat Regiment
62 RR - Dogra Regiment
63 RR -Bihar Regiment

Over the past two decades, many officers from these arms and services have distinguished themselves in conflict and have, in fact, earned several gallantry awards while deployed in Rashtriya Rifles.

For more, please refer to - https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/rashtriya-rifles.htm https://www.ssbcrack.com/2017/12/10-things-you-must-know-about-the-rashtriya-rifles-rr.html