On topic: How come it is not good enough for the CRPF, when it is the standard rifle of the infantry?
@vk17 : Could you explain?
There would be several reasons for that. I'll list out a few in no particular order.
1.
The CRPF aren't infused with the same strict regimen as their army counterparts. On top of that, there are fewer, and less effective supervision of the jawans in CRPF (CAPF) by their commanders. When you conflate this with the fact that a CRPF jawan by nature of his duties is likely to be deployed much longer than a IA jawan, you have the classic case of lack of proper maintenance of the rifle.
The INSAS is more maintenance intensive than the AK. In the army, this doesn't cause too much trouble, given their standards, but in the CRPF, it definitely will have a negative affect.
2. The problems listed in the article appear to be the ones plaguing the earlier batches of the INSAS.
The army suffered them too, till as late as 2011. This was despite the IA depots already receiving the updated and rectified rifles by 2009-10. Why? Because the standard procedure of the IA supply was to replace only the damaged or lost ones. In effect, a two year backlog of rifles had accumulated, with the soldiers not getting the rectified rifles because their faulty rifles had not been damaged. The problem was corrected soon enough though.
This might be one of the reasons in the CRPF as well, especially when you consider the fact that the CRPF doesn't have the luxury of buying excess rifles.
3. The CRPF usually engage in urban, semi urban or forested environments; areas where the distances are below 100 m.
At such short ranges, given the higher velocity of the 5.56 rounds, the possibility exists that the round will go right through the militant, without taking him out of the fight. This is also excaberated by the fact that militants are usually high on alcohol or drugs, and might not feel the effects of the puncture wound till the effect of the drug/alcohol exists.
An Ak 7.62 on the other hand, will stop him dead, regardless of how high he is. That's usually referred to as stopping power, and is one of the reasons the US wanted 7.62 rounds in Iraq etc.
