New Delhi : The security of Parliament complex, including the vehicular access and pass issuing section, will be taken over by the CISF personnel, a process that started on Tuesday and will be completed over the week, the Parliament Security office has said. This has come days after the Home Ministry appointed a panel to assess whether personnel of the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) should fully take over — right from managing security arrangements to issuing passes to regulating movement of MPs, VIPs, officials and the media.
An order issued by the office of the Joint Secretary (Security), Parliament House, on Monday quoted a letter from the DIG-CISF, Parliament House Complex, wherein the latter had listed out the security takeover in a phased manner.
As per the order, the pass checking at flap gates of all the buildings in Parliament House Complex has been handed over to the CISF at 6am on Tuesday. The order suggested that anti-sabotage check is to be handed over at 6am on May 15, Dogs of dog squad (to be handed over at 6am on May 15), CCTV control rooms (6am on May 15), vehicular access control at Talkatora gate and Parliament Library gates (6am on May 20), and Communication Control Room, and pass section for both the Houses, deployment and transport branch, and reception counters (LS and RS) at 6am on May 20.
Sources said it is not clear who will be in charge of lobbies which include the chambers of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as well as the main reception.
Last week, The Indian Express reported that the Home Ministry on May 3 constituted a seven-member panel headed by CISF DIG Ajay Kumar to furnish a report on security requirements “at the earliest”. The panel had one representative each from Intelligence Bureau, Delhi Police and Parliament Security, apart from Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal (commandant CISF), Brij Raj, Deputy Commandant, CISF, and Narendra Singh (21C, SSF, MHA).
Festive offer
With this move, the CISF replaces the Parliament Security Service that came into existence with the formation of the Watch and Ward Committee on September 3, 1929, an initiative taken by Vidhalbhai Patel, then president of the Central Legislative Assembly. The committee has been working independently under the Lok Sabha Speaker. While a joint secretary (security) looks after the entire Parliament House complex, the director (security) of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has operational control over the Upper House, and the director of the Lok Sabha secretariat over the lower house. So far, the Parliament Security Service has been “solely responsible for management of access control and regulation of people, material and vehicles within the historical and prestigious Parliament House complex”.
Security at the complex has so far been taken care of jointly by the CISF and the Parliament Security Service, which functions under the Watch and Ward Committee, an organisation trained to provide security to Parliament House and regulate movements of MPs and
dignitaries.
Last month, the CISF was brought in to replace 150 personnel of the Delhi Police, who had deployed alongside the Parliament Security Service. The change was prompted by a major security breach on December 13 last year, during which a few people managed to enter the Parliament Hall and open smoke canisters.
Pointing out that Parliament security is a part of the Lok Sabha secretariat, former Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary has told The Indian Express that any change should be under the direction of the Speaker, not MHA. “Parliament security is a part of the Lok Sabha Secretariat and its job is to protect the interest of MPs and facilitate things for them. This cannot be performed by any outside security agency,”Achary has said.
(Courtesy : The Indian Express)
