Government Initiatives

(a) Rapid Modernisation of Police Forces

The Government in September 2017 gave its approval for implementation of umbrella scheme of “Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF)” for years 2017-18 to 2019-20. The financial outlay for the scheme over the three-year’s period is Rs. 25,060 crore, out of which the Central Government share will be Rs 18,636 crore and the States’ share will be Rs. 6,424 crore.

Key Features

• Special provision has been made under the Scheme for internal security, law and order, women security, availability of modern weapons, mobility of police forces, logistics support, hiring of helicopters, upgradation of police wireless, National Satellite Network, CCTNS project, E-prison project, etc.
• Under the umbrella scheme, Central budget outlay of Rs. 10,132 crore has been earmarked for internal security related expenditure for Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern States and left-wing extremism affected States.

Government’s Approach to Tackle Left-Wing Terrorism

• The Government of India has adopted a holistic approach around simultaneous implementation of a security agenda, developmental activities and promotion of good governance.
• The National Policy and Action Plan to address LWE problem, formulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2014, essentially incorporates four elements - an integrated multi-pronged strategy comprising security related measures; development related initiatives, ensuring rights and entitlement related measures, and management of public perception.

Some of the prominent schemes are-

The ‘Special Central Assistance’ (SCA) for 35 most LWE affected districts for creating public infrastructures and services in affected areas; ‘Road Requirement Plan–I &II’ for improving road connectivity in 34 LWE affected districts; skill development in 34 Districts of LWE under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna’ (PMKVY); ‘Fortified Police Stations’ by construction and strengthening of 400 police stations in 10 LWE affected states; and installation of mobile towers in the affected states for better communication network.

(b) Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project

• The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project launched in 2009, is a mission mode project under the National e-Governance Plan being implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The project aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system and a nation-wide networked solution for connecting more than 15,000 Police Stations and nearly 6,000 higher offices in 28 States and 7 UTs of the country for sharing of real-time crime and criminal information.
• The project has been conceptualized based on the principle of ‘Centralized Planning and Decentralized Implementation’.
• A Core Application Software (CAS) was developed with common definitions, scheme and specifications at the Central level which would be handed over to the States/UTs for State specific customization.

(c) Border Protection Grid (BPG)

• The Border Protection Grid (BPG) will comprise of various elements namely physical barriers, non-physical barriers, surveillance system, Intelligence agencies, State Police, BSF and other State and Central agencies.
• BPG will be supervised by a State-level Standing Committee under the Chairmanship of respective Chief Secretaries. BPG will ensure greater help for the States in the overall border security.
• For putting in place the BPG, active participation of all stakeholders including State Governments is needed.
• Recently, the GoI is providing highest priority to making borders secure, where the Union Minister of Home had conducted border specific review meetings for Indo-China, Indo-Myanmar, Indo-Pakistan borders.

(d) Coastal Security in India

Indian coasts are guarded by a 3-tier system of State Marine Police, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Navy.

• The ICG conducts coastal security exercises involving all stakeholders in all coastal states/UTs biannually to validate these Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for functioning of coastal police stations and also ICG promulgates these SOPs for coordination among various agencies on coastal security issues.
• The coastline has been further secured by the creation of chain of static sensors and Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers along the Indian Coast and Radars operated by the ICG at 45 locations while 38 more Radars are planned to be installed for gapless surveillance of the coastline.
• The MHA has issued Guidelines to the coastal states/UTs in regard to security of non-major ports.
• For training of coastal police, in-principle approval has been accorded for setting up of National Marine Police Training Institute in Gujarat and State Marine Police Training Centres in the Police Training Academies of States and Union Territories.
• In order to track illegal movement, registration of fishing vessels has been made compulsory and for sensitizing fishermen on safety issues, community interaction programmes are conducted by Indian Coast Guard.

(e) National Investigation Agency (NIA)

• The NIA was created by an Act of the Parliament of India on December 31, 2008 following Mumbai terror attack of November 2008.
• NIA is an investigation agency at the national level to investigate and prosecute offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of State, friendly relations with foreign States and offences under Acts enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto for investigation and prosecution of offences affecting sovereignty, security and integrity of India.
• NIA plays the role of the national counter terrorism law enforcement agency.

(f) National Security Advisor (NSA)

• The National Security Adviser (NSA) is the chief executive of the National Security Council (NSC), and the primary adviser to the Prime Minister of India on national and international security.
• Due to such vested powers, NSA is a prominent and powerful office in the bureaucracy.
• All the NSAs appointed since the inception of the post belong to the Indian Foreign Service except M K Narayanan and the present, Ajit Doval, who belong to the Indian Police Service.
• The National Security Adviser (NSA) is tasked with regularly advising the Prime Minister on all matters relating to internal and external threats to the country, and oversees strategic issues.
• The NSA of India also serves as the Prime Minister’s Special Interlocutor on border issues with China, and frequently accompanies the Prime Minister on Foreign State visits.
• Brajesh Mishra was appointed the first National Security Adviser of India. The post was created on 19 November 1998 by the Government of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

(g) National Security Guard (NSG)

• NSG is under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs. However, it is not categorised under the uniform nomenclature of Central Armed Police Forces.
• It has a Special Forces mandate, and its core operational capability is provided by the Special Action Group (SAG) which is drawn from the Indian Army.
• The Special Rangers Group (SRG), the police component of NSG, which also handles VIP security, is composed of personnel on deputation from other Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces.
• The NSG personnel are often referred to in the media as Black Cats because of the black dress and black cat insignia worn on their uniform.

(h) National Technical Research Organization (NTRO)

The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is a technical intelligence Agency under the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office, India. It was set up in 2004. It also includes National Institute of Cryptology Research and Development (NICRD), which is first of its kind in Asia.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on May 15, 2017 issued a notification listing NTRO under the Intelligence Organisations (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1985.

Government Agencies to Safeguard Internal Security

The Indian Paramilitary Forces (PMF) are regarded as the world’s second largest paramilitary force, second only to China with 1.5 million personnel. Overall it has a two-tier structure, the Central Police Organizations (CPO), which forms the first tier, and the second tier known as Central Paramilitary Forces (CPF).

(a) Central Police Organizations (Tier 1): The Central Police Organizations (CPO) work independently or in coordination with the Indian Federal Agencies and State Police Forces. Railway Protection Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Special Protection Group, Home Guard and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) are CPOs which comes under Tier I paramilitary forces.

1. Railway Protection Force: It is an Indian Central Armed Police Force charged with protecting the Indian Railways. The strength of RPF is about 65,000. The duties of the Railway Protection Force include: to do all conducive means for the free movement of the railways, protection and safeguarding of railway property, protection and safeguarding of passengers, their belongings and passenger area.
2. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF): The CRPF’s primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency. It came into existence as the Crown Representative’s Police on July 27, 1939. After Indian Independence, it became the Central Reserve Police Force on enactment of the CRPF Act on December 28, 1949.
3. Special Protection Group (SPG): With about 3000 personnel, SPG is used for the protection of VVIPs such as the Prime Minister and his/her immediate family members. The force was raised in 1985 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and turned more organised after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Recruits include police and the NSG commandos who are trained like the US Secret Service.
4. Indian Home Guards: It is an Indian paramilitary force which is tasked as an auxiliary to the Indian Police. The Home Guards Organization was reorganised in India in 1962 after the external aggression by the People’s Republic of China, though it existed in smaller units individually in some places. The Home Guard force was originally raised in 1946 under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
5. COBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action): It is a specialized unit of the CRPF created to counter the Naxalite problem in India. This specialized CRPF unit is one of the only units of the Central Armed Police Forces in the country who are specifically trained in guerilla warfare.

(b) Central Paramilitary Forces (Tier 2): The Central Paramilitary Forces (CPF) forms the second tier of Paramilitary Forces. The CPF works in cooperation with the Indian Armed Forces. CPF constitutes of Border Security Force, National Security Guard, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Defence Security Corps, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Rashtriya Rifles, Assam Rifles and Special Frontier Force.

1. Border Security Force (BSF): Established on December 1, 1965, BSF is responsible for guarding India’s land borders during peacetime and preventing trans-border crimes.
2. National Security Guards (NSG): It is a Special Response Unit in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism and was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of 1986.
3. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF): Established in its present form on June 15, 1983, its current strength is 1,65,000 personnel working in 132 battalions around the country. The CISF provides security cover to industrial units located all over India like Atomic Power Plants, Space Installations, Defence Production Units, Mints, Oil Fields and Refineries, Airports, Major Ports, etc.
4. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB): SSB was set up in early 1963 in the wake of the Sino-Indian War to inculcate feelings of national belonging in the border population and develop their capabilities for resistance through a continuous process of motivation, training, development, welfare programmes and activities. The highest-level headquarter of the force is the Force Headquarters (FHQ), also called the Directorate General of SSB, located in New Delhi.
5. Indo-Tibetan Border Police: It is a paramilitary force conceived on October 24, 1962. Presently ITBP deployed on Border Guarding Duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Diphu La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 km of India and China border. The ITBP is trained in Civil Medical Camp, disaster management, and nuclear, biological and chemical disasters.
6. Rashtriya Rifles: It is a counter-insurgency force in India. It was raised by General B C Joshi in 1990 where the main role was to allow the Indian Army to ensure its primary task of defending the borders and the state’s territory unhindered by action from Pakistan-backed terrorists and guerrillas.
7. Assam Rifles: Currently there are 46 battalions of Assam Rifles under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The first form of what is now the Assam Rifles was Cachar Levy, a paramilitary police force of 750 men that was formed under British colonial rule in 1835. These forces played an important role in the two world wars for British India. In October 1962 the Assam Rifles were the frontline troops in the beginning of the Chinese-Indian War. The Assam Rifles also maintains their peacekeeping roles in North-East in the face of tribal unrest and insurgency.
8. Special Frontier Force: It was created on 14 November 1962. Its main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in the event of another Indo-China war. Based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand, SFF is also known as the Establishment 22’ or just ‘22’