Top security priority cover for 777 vital installations in India

By Rajnish Singh As many as 777 vital installations in India are currently under special security cover provided by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), working under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the state governments.

As per the recently published Annual Report 2020-2021, based on threat vulnerability, these installations are being guarded by Central Armed Police Forces and state forces. The report says that the security categorization of vital installations has been reviewed, and they have been re-categorized as A, B, C, D and E, in view of their threat vulnerability and to include a wider range of vital installations.

These vital installations include nuclear and aerospace buildings, sensitive government departments, and power and energy setup among others. The security of vital installations in the country is primarily the responsibility of the Union Ministry or Department or the state government concerned.

The MHA advises them on security norms and requirements of vital installations periodically, based on the review of existing arrangements by the Central Security Agencies. Additionally, threat inputs received about the vital installations are promptly shared with the state government and UT administration and concerned ministries.

Based on the requests received from the organization and ministries, CAPFs are deployed for the security of certain vital installations, said the report. The strength of the security personnel from CAPFs varies as per threat perception of the vital installations such as the civil secretariat, police headquarters, airport and various central government establishments in the country, said an MHA official, adding "most of such installations are guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)".

According to MHA sources, most of the 777 vital installations in the country are secured by the CISF while the rest are secured by the state governments. The security audit is usually carried out by a joint team of the Intelligence Bureau and local security heads.

The CISF at present provides security cover to 353 establishments that include nuclear installations, space establishments, airports, seaports and power plants. In addition, the CISF also protects important government buildings, iconic heritage monuments and the Delhi Metro.

Officials in the security and intelligence wings told ANI that the security of vital installations has been increased as terror agents from across the border are now training their guns on soft economic targets such as IT hubs, security installations and other sensitive locations like power plants.