| Border Roads Organisation | |
|---|---|
 BRO Logo |
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| Abbreviation | BRO |
| Motto | Creates, Connects Cares[1], 50 Years of Excellence |
| Formation | 7 May 1960 |
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose/focus | Civil engineering for the Indian army |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Location | Border regions of India |
| Region served | India |
| Director General | Lt. Gen. MC Badhani (As of 2009) |
| Parent organization | Indian Army Corps of Engineers |
| Budget | INR 3,183 crores (As of 2008) (600m USD) |
| Website | www.bro.nic.in |
The Border Roads Organisation, or more famously The BRO, is a combination of Border Roads Engineering Service (BRES) officers from General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) and officers from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army to maintain roads that serve the borders areas of India. The organisation works for the development and maintenance of arterial roads which have strategic importance for the Indian Army. BRO's activities have also helped to accelerate the economic development of the North and North Eastern border states. The roads construction teams have to deal with some of the harshest climatic conditions in the world.[2] The BRO faces formidable hurdles like the icy Himalayan tops, the marshes of West Bengal and the deserts in Rajasthan. BRO undertakes road constructions and maintenance at high altitude in the hills. Some of the BRO roads are built as high as 6,000 metres (19,685 ft) above mean sea level.[3]
The BRO was formed on 7 May, 1960, with the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the chairman of the Border Roads Development Board, as an inter-ministerial organisation. BRO is led by the Director General of Border Roads (DGBR), as it's Executive Head, who is of the rank of a Lieutenant General. The present Director General of BRO is Lt Gen Arun Kumar Nanda, AVSM, VSM. The BRO also consists of a General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF), the execution force, under the Ministry of Surface Transport. GREF comprises engineers from civil engineering, electrical & mechanical engineering disciplines. They are selected from reputed engineering colleges across India through the annual Engineering Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The staff also consists of administrative officers, supervisors and other trades of personnel. The organisation has operations spread across India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
The Border Roads Organisation operates a network of over 34,306 kilometres (21,317 mi) of roads and 16,601 metres (54,465 ft) of permanent bridges. BRO has operations in twenty-two states including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory.
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The fundamental unit of the BRO is similar to a platoon. This functional platoon, composed of army civil engineers and civil engineer officers of general reserve engineer force (GREF) is in charge of activities such as cutting, surfacing, and safety mechanisms to maintain correct road geometry. The building of permanent and temporary bridges, causeways and construction of airfields also comes under the ambit of the BRO. The BRO is composed of 13 Projects,which are divided into TaskForces which are further subdivided into RCCs (Road Construction Companies), workshops, store & supply & Transport convoy.
BRO is also in charge of maintenance of its networks. In many places landslides, avalanches and snow block the routes and have to cleared as quickly as possible. BRO also employs the local populace in the task thus providing a steady employment to the peoples of the border areas.
The BRO is supported by an Integrated Financial Advisory (IFA) system which came into existence in 1995. A similar set up was established through the ACDA/Senior Accounts Officers at the Chief Engineer Project level and Accounts Officers at the Task Force level. The IFA secured the ISO 9001 certification in December 1999.
Nation’s most reputed, multifaceted, trans-national, modern construction Organisation committed to meeting the strategic needs of the armed forces with enlightened leadership, a strong, skilled and committed work force, a well ingrained value system and a strong environment conscience. Play a national role in socio-economic development through its large scale contribution to infrastructure development.
BRO has undertaken a number of projects in India and friendly countries. These projects are usually assigned the initiative of developing roads, bridges and airfields in hostile environments, which are shunned by the private enterprises due to issues of security & harsh climatic conditions. Some of these projects carry out some of the development initiatives of the Government of India in foreign territories like Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Bhutan. These include the Zaranj-Dilaram highway in Afghanistan, to be completed by 2008, and the restoration of the Ayni-Farkhor Air Base, near Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe. The BRO also played a vital role in reconstruction work in the aftermath of the devastating Tsunami in Tamil Nadu state of India and the October 8 earthquake in Jammu & Kashmir, India.
The organisation employs causally paid labourers, who are employed and discharged from service as and when workload is reduced or the work is completed. No casual labourer is deployed in the GREF for more than 179 days at a stretch, thus keeping the nature of their employment casual. This practice has been criticised by the labour who feel that they should get permanent employment.[4]
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