CISF has ‘extra strain’, we need more manpower, says chief

Entrusted with the security of a number of hypersensitive installations, the Central Industrial Security Force on Friday complained...

Entrusted with the security of a number of hypersensitive installations, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Friday complained of shortage of manpower and equipment.

Addressing mediapersons on the 39th CISF Raising Day, Director General R K Das said, “We need to have more manpower to deal with the situations and the Government, which is well-aware of rising numbers, is considering the force’s proposal to increase its strength of personnel.”

“We do not complain much. But yes, we have extra strain,” he said. The CISF is considered the most successful among paramilitary forces, guarding Delhi Metro, 54 airports and several other important structures like the Red Fort, the Taj Mahal, PSUs and now, power discoms.

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Noting that the increase in the volume of passengers at airports has created more pressure on their personnel, Das said our deployment had not increased according to the increase in the number of people taking air route for travel.

There has reportedly been an increase of 49 per cent in the number of passengers at the international and domestic airports in Delhi, but the deployment of CISF personnel has not increased from 2,200 jointly on Mumbai and Delhi airports.

“Our proposal for increase in the number of personnel at the Delhi airport is under Government’s consideration,” Das said. Explaining the deployment pattern, he added that the accepted international practice was that personnel should not man a point for more than 20 minutes as it might affect their concentration level.

“We may not be using all the facilities because of shortage of security personnel. There are 18 X-ray machines at an airport for screening purposes and we may not be using all. It does not mean that we are lax in our attitude,” Das said.

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The 1.05 lakh-strong force is currently protecting 272 undertakings and out of them, as many as 152 units have recorded a ‘nil’ in crimes.

He said that they were working in a different environment in Delhi Metro where 6.5 lakh passengers are boarding the train everyday, yet they have been successful in securing the transport system. The volume of people using Metro is estimated to be about 10 lakh by 2010 when more routes are opened.

“There are complaints that the queues are long. The task has become more important now as it is to be seen how we ensure that long queues are shortened without compromising on the security,” he said. There are around 1,633 CISF personnel in Delhi Metro and 300 in power discoms. The security of newly constructed airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad will also be handled by the CISF. These airports will be operational later this month.