Security cover for VIPs okay, what about for women on the streets?

Media buzzed with reports of the Union government granting Y-category security for the protection of the leader of a newly floated political party in Kerala, which is close to the BJP.

The Supreme Court, in the aftermath of the Delhi gang rape of December 16, 2012, had earlier raised concerns for diverting security personnel for VIP duties.

Keeping all this in mind, two questions need to be answered: first, who deserves protection? Second, which agency should provide them?

Security cover is generally granted to public figures or politically important persons who have threat from assault, kidnapping, assassination, harassment, loss of confidential information or other criminal offences.

The granting of security cover and stripping of the same is always a matter of political controversy in a country like India which doesn't have a witness protection programme owing to lack of funds and shortage of manpower.

Controversy erupted recently when the security cover provided to former Union ministers Salman Khurshid and Manish Tiwari was completely done away with. Former deputy home minister RPN Singh got his security downgraded to Y-category.

One the other hand, Baba Ramdev got his Z-category security extended all over India and Muzaffarnagar riots case accused Sangeet Som got Z-plus category. Similarly, the decision to give CRPF cover to business magnet Mukesh Ambani by the UPA government turned out to be controversial.

The decision to give security cover or to modify it or even to strip it is now taken by a protection review group headed by the home secretary and has officials from the intelligence bureau on board.

Another committee performing a similar function is the security categorisation committee. The pressure allegedly exerted by the political executive always made the decisions of this committee controversial.

The Kargil Review Committee (KRC) set up immediately after the 1999 conflict insists on "One Border, One Force". On the lines of this recommendation, to avoid conflict and confusion by deploying more than one uniformed force, the government of India entrusted the duties of one border area to one force.

Nepal and Bhutan borders were entrusted to the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), China to the Indo-Tibetian Border Police (ITBP), Myanmar to Assam Rifles (AR), Pakistan and Bangladesh to the Border Security Force (BSF).

One agency for protection duties is also a similar need. Now CRPF, CISF, ITBP along with NSG and SPG forms the security detail of the protectees. The Union government has announced once again two years back that the CISF will become NSG's substitute for VIP protection.

The decision to induct the CISF into VIP protection was taken in 2002 on the recommendation of a group of ministers, which said that the NSG, ITBP, CRPF and other security agencies providing VIP security be relieved from such duties so that they could concentrate on the tasks they had been created for.

A Pioneer news report dated March 27, 2014 says, the CRPF has decided to transfer the resources under its elite anti-naxal CoBRA unit to equip personnel engaged in VIP protection. The report further adds that the force is placing bullet proof vehicles in different parts of the country for VIP movement.

Keep in mind, the CRPF was created to assist the state governments in maintaining law and order and for counter-insurgency duties.

If officers and men are drained for VIP duties from the CRPF, then normally officers and personnel from border guarding forces like the BSF, ITBP and SSB must be brought in for anti-Naxal operations. A country like India with a hostile neighbourhood cannot afford that. Trained mercenaries were able to infiltrate the Punjab border and the tremor was felt in Pathankot recently.

CRPF protectees include BJP leaders Amit Shah and Subramaniyam Swamy, former Punjab DGP KPS Gill, and DMK's MK Stalin. The VIPs under CISF cover include RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, deputy home minister Kiren Rijiju and national security advisor Ajit Doval.

The Delhi government openly admitted in the Supreme Court that 8,049 police personnel were deployed to protect VIPs at Rs 341 crore a year in the capital alone. This number is in addition to the members of the elite protection units of the SPG, NSG, ITBP, CRPF and CISF.

At a time when crimes against women are rising and domestic threats increasing, the need for rationalisation of security cover is of extreme importance. The influence of the political leadership should be stripped and a committee to recommend security cover should be headed by a serving/retired Supreme Court judge.

Intelligence agencies shall aid the said committee. Also, the protection duty must be entrusted to the CISF alone as this special force was created for this duty and all other forces should be relieved of VIP duties.