Assam Rifles to induct more indigenous dog breeds under Atmanirbhar push

Assam Rifles is expanding its canine squad by inducting indigenous breeds like Tangkhul Hui and Kombai under the Centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat push.

The Assam Rifles has stepped up its push for indigenisation by planning to induct more Indian dog breeds into its canine squad as part of the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, a senior official said on Thursday.

Assam Rifles Dog Training Centre (ARDTC) Officer Commanding Lt Col Alok Palei told PTI that the force has already inducted the Tangkhul Hui breed as a pilot project and will introduce the Kombai breed from April.

“The Union Home Minister has always advocated for Atmanirbhar Bharat in every field. He also wanted to have more of the Indian dog breeds in the dog squads of all forces. Since then, we have been working on identifying an indigenous breed for our purposes,” Palei said.

Following a directive issued last year by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the force began identifying suitable local breeds for induction. At present, Assam Rifles uses four breeds in its squad: Labrador, German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and Tangkhul Hui.

The force inducted six Tangkhul Hui dogs in 2022 as a pilot project. Palei said the breed is highly disease resistant and all six dogs currently serve in narcotics detection. The Tangkhul Hui is found in Ukhrul district of Manipur and is traditionally used for hunting.

Assam Rifles will induct the Kombai breed, native to Tamil Nadu, in phases. “We are in the process of identifying the parent stock. The first three years will be for breeding. As the first step, we will induct two males and eight females of Kombai in April,” Palei said. He added that the Tangkhul Hui and Kombai breeds are likely to be fully inducted into the dog squad by March 2027.