---
title: "Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF): Role & Mandate"
description: "The CRPF is India's largest Central Armed Police Force, governed by the CRPF Act 1949 and tasked with internal security, anti-Naxal and election duties."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/central-reserve-police-force"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Central Reserve Police Force is India's largest central armed police force, deployed to assist states in internal security, counter-insurgency, and election duties under the Union Home Ministry.
- What is the legal basis for deploying the CRPF inside a state when policing is a State subject?
- How does the CRPF differ from the Border Security Force?
- What are the CRPF's specialised wings?
- Who commands the CRPF and how are its officers recruited?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

The Central Reserve Police Force is India's largest central armed police force, deployed to assist states in internal security, counter-insurgency, and election duties under the Union Home Ministry.

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## Timeline

1. 27 July 1939

   Its statutory foundation is the Crown Representative's Police, raised on in the princely state environment, which was reconstituted after independence by th…

2. 28 December 1949

   Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, as the first Home Minister, presided over its renaming and re-tasking on , the date the force now observes as its formal anniversary.

3. 14 February 2019

   In Jammu and Kashmir, CRPF units form the backbone of counter-insurgency grid duties and urban law-and-order management, having borne the brunt of the Pulwa…

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Example

In February 2019, a CRPF convoy of 78 vehicles on the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway was struck by a suicide car bomb at Pulwama, killing 40 personnel — the deadliest single attack on the force.

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