Guarding India's Seafront

Is it time to pat ourselves on the back? Can India be sure of preventing another terror attack?

By Col R Hariharan
 
Indian security agencies’ successful handling of a series of events involving lucrative terrorist targets in the last quarter of 2010 showed they are succeeding in setting right their woeful performance during the infamous 26/11 Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) attack in Mumbai two years back. The tasks faced by the security agencies would have daunted security agencies of even big powers.

The blue ribbon event was the high profile visit of U.S. President Barak Obama, World’s Number one terrorist target. This was followed by the XIX Commonwealth Games, in which 83 countries took part. The quarter also included two other potentially explosive anniversaries - the 26/11 attack and the demolition of Babri masjid by Hindu zealots. There were also two other adds-on to the security nightmare – the long awaited judgement in the Babri Masjid ownership case and the visit of French President Sarkozy of the French burqa ban fame. But all the events passed off peacefully. Glitches if any were minor.  

Of course, the security agencies were kept on tenterhooks by reports of Pakistan-based Jihadi groups preparing to strike at some of the prominent targets in India. However, terrorists were kept at bay apparently due to the alertness of security elements in place. A number of arrests of suspected terrorists were also made.

No doubt success in this crucial period is a direct outcome of the efforts of the Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram to tone up the internal security set up. His multi-pronged approach and broad-based strategies to improve the command and control of security response systems on a networked basis is slowly coming into place. So the coherence in action has become visible. However, the task of providing muscle and teeth to state and central police and paramilitary forces is not complete. So the much needed progress has not yet reached the ground floor.

 

There is no dearth of money for the action plan. The Centre’s allocation for internal security is now poised to go up to Rs 40,852 crore this year, if we go by the first budget supplementary. This represents nearly a fifty per cent increase over last year’s allocation of Rs.25, 923 Crore in 2008-09.

The expenditure is mainly due to the two schemes for modernisation of state police and central paramilitary forces (CPMF). Both the schemes have been extended to 2010-11. The force levels of the three CPMF (BSF, CRPF and SSB) are being increased by 109 additional battalions. The hardware and software to connect the security control centres in state capitals with State Special Branches are in place. And connectivity is expected to be completed by end December 2010. 

 

One Central Academy for Police Training (CAPT) at Bhopal, two Central Detective Training Schools (CDTS) at Lucknow and Ahmedabad and 20 Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist (CIAT) Schools are also being set up. After a review, the sanctioned strength of the IPS to the state cadre has been increased by 717 to 4730.

Is it time to pat ourselves on the back? Can India be sure to prevent another terrorist attack on the scale of 26/11?

It is difficult to confidently answer these questions with surety if we consider our inability to execute time-bound projects. In this respect, the Union Home Ministry’s record is slightly better; at the state-level leadership has not shown the urgency required to revamp their set up to handle terrorist threat.

This is not mere lethargy. States had always resisted carrying out police reforms. Despite judicial direction, politicians do not want to lose their control over law enforcement machinery. Even after the 26/11 disaster, this mind set does not appear to have changed.

Nothing illustrates this better than the attitude of states to change existing systems. Local media in Maharashtra says the state home ministry has not shown a keen interest in providing training to the lowest rank post of police constables. The Special Forces raised with a lot fanfare still carry old weapons and do not have enough body armour. There are huge deficiencies in police strength in many states. Efforts to fill up these vacancies are tardy.

However, the biggest chink in national security is in coastal security. No doubt it is a complex issue mired in round-robin power games played by diverse ministries. Apart from state governments, at the Centre also it involves coordinating the functioning of many agencies and ministries including defence, ports and shipping, fisheries, agriculture, off shore drilling, maritime trade, environmental protection and international relations. So it is not surprising the Union Home Ministry took two years to embark upon forming a multi-dimensional command structure. Four Joint Operation Centres have been set up under the respective naval commanders in chief. A Sagar Prahari Bal under the Navy has been set up to patrol shallow waters of the coast. A thousand sailors equipped with 80 fast interceptor boats are being trained in phases. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for coastal security have been finalized in respect of all coastal states and union territories.

The Centre is optimistic that the first phase of the Coastal Security Scheme will be implemented nationwide by March 2011. Its expectations of states and union territories are that states would establish  73 coastal police stations, provided with  adequate manpower apart from 204 boats and 153 vehicles, and 312 two wheelers. 

In the second phase, the Coastal Security Scheme is even more ambitious with an outlay of Rs.1579.91 crore. It hopes to provide states/UTs more 131 more coastal police stations and boats and infrastructure required to make them operational. The Scheme is also to provide support for equipment, computer systems, vehicles, two-wheelers etc. A uniform system for registration of all boats is being introduced. Action is also being taken for issuing ID cards to all fishermen. There is increased emphasis on technology usage; installation of transponders on vessels to ensure identification and tracking is also being initiated. Radar chains are also being strengthened. 

So where is the problem? It lies in our national inability in executing plans on paper in time. Barring Gujarat, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, other coastal states have made little progress in implementing coastal security projects. Setting up coastal police stations envisaged even in the first phase of the plan is lagging behind. Their infrastructure is not in place. So it is doubtful whether the Coastal Security Scheme would be fully implemented fully even by end 2012.

According to defence analyst Major General Ashok Mehta, “while the Indian navy, the nodal agency for coastal security, has issued elaborate papers on plugging gaps at sea through maritime domain awareness, little has been done in augmenting capabilities of the Coast Guard.”  Only two aircraft or helicopter has been added to the fleet of 48 since 2008 for watching India’s 7,600km coastline.

At the heart of the problem is incompetent political leadership; after all what happened to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh after he messed up the handling of 26/11 terror attack? He was pushed out to a plum post in the Central cabinet as minister for heavy industries. With this law of diminishing return in operation any improvement to national security will come, if and only, when political leadership becomes accountable and demands accountability from the bureaucracy. Otherwise the nation is likely to limp along from year to year explaining why we failed rather than talk of our successes.

Courtesy: GFiles,Vol 4 Issue 11 -  February 2011

URL  http://gfilesindia.com/