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Journalism of Courage
New Delhi, May 7: Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi may soon be the only children of an ex-prime minister who will enjoy security cover of the Special Protection Group (SPG).
The Government is planning to amend the SPG’s charter to provide cover to children of only those protectees who face a grave threat calculated on the basis of a threat assessment.
These amendments in the SPG act have already been approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and are awaiting approval of the Union Cabinet since the SPG Act 1988 will need to be amended.
SPG sources say that besides striking off all children of former Prime Ministers V P Singh, Narasimha Rao, Chandrashekhar, I K Gujral and H D Deve Gowda from its list of protectees, the amendments include a reduction in period of the SPG cover provided to ex-PM from the existing 10 years to five.
Under the twice-amended SPG Act, protection is extended to the Prime Minister, former Prime Minister and their children. The proposed amendments have also been routed to the UnionLaw Ministry which has been asked to address specific questions: should the SPG Act include both minor children and adults? Or should security be simply based on threat perceptions faced by the PM and ex-PMs?
SPG officials say the amendments were being debated for many months, owing to the increase in the number of protectees and mounting costs: over the past three years, the SPG incurred an expenditure of Rs 216.21 crore of which Rs 113.72 crore was spent just last year.
Curiously, the amendments come at a time when two ex-Prime Ministers, V P Singh and Deve Gowda–along with their wives, but not children–have demanded withdrawal of their SPG cover. Under the existing SPG Act, the cover can only be withdrawn if the protectee gives a written declaration to this effect.
When the SPG was raised after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, it was envisaged as a tidy crack force limited to providing security exclusively to the PM and his family. However, after Rajiv Gandhi’sassassination, the SPG Act was amended to provide security to Sonia Gandhi and her children and thereby, all former PMs and their children.
However, several adult children of ex-PMs have sought to get rid of an “obtrusive” security cover which they say hampers their normal life. The proposal says that some ex-PMs’ children are like private citizens, pursuing careers as physicians and lecturers and do not need this level of security.
