Central Industrial Security Force

The Central Industrial Security Force ("established in its present form": June 15, 1983) is a paramilitary security force in India.

It was set up under an act of Parliament on March 10, 1969 with a strength of 2,800. CISF was subsequently made an armed force of the Union of India by another act of Parliament passed on June 15, 1983. Its current strength is 105,000. [ [http://cisf.nic.in/CISF-Origin.htm] Dead link|date=March 2008]

It is directly under the federal Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New Delhi.

The CISF provides security cover to 269 industrial units located all over India. Industrial Sectors like Atomic Power Plants, Space Installations, Defence Production Units, Mints, Oil Fields and Refineries, Major Ports, Heavy Engineering, Steel Plants, Barrages, Fertilizer units, Airports and Hydro electric/thermal power plants are protected by CISF. Most of these installations are located in difficult terrains of the country with harsh climatic conditions.

CISF also provides consultancy services to private industries as well as other organizations within the Indian government. The consulting wing has amongst its clients some of the renowned business houses and organisations of India including TISCO Jamshedpur; SEBI Hqrs. Mumbai; Vidhana Soudha,Bangalore; Orissa Mining Co.,Bhubaneswar; AP Assembly, Hyderabad; Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corp., HIL Kerala, IARI, Delhi; NBRI, Lucknow and Infosys, Bangalore. The scope of CISF's consulting practice includes security consulting and fire protection consulting.

"Raising and Charter"

It was set up under an act of the Indian Parliament on March 10, 1969 with a strength of around 2,800 personnel and as the name suggests, it was created for the better protection and security of Industrial Undertakings. There was a limitation though, that industries to be provided protection should be wholly owned by the Central Government, which has since been modified so that the industries can now be a joint venture with the Central Government. However the role of CISF has undergone a diversification and it now also protects airports, seaports, metro rail networks, government buildings, heritage monuments (including the Taj Mahal and others), Opium and alkaloids extractions, nuclear power plants, and space installations. It has also moved into the fields of VIP security as well as Disaster management.

"Armed Force"

CISF was made an armed force of the Union of India by an act of Parliament passed in "June 15, 1983". Thereby the personnel were permitted to carry weapons in the line of duty and were provided certain protections in law for genuine duty. They were also brought under more stringent discplinary rules.

"Airport Security"

The CISF controls airport security at all commercial airports in India. Airport security, in the past, was under the control of the Airport Police (under the State Government). However, following the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999, the topic of handing over security of the airports to the CISF was first proposed. While this proposal lay low for the next two years, the Central Government woke up to the security threat after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States of America and decided to implement the suggestion. The Cochin International Airport in Cochin was the first airport that came under the CISF's control. Following this majority of the commercial airports in India were brought under its purview. [ [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/757802279.cms Mid-November target for CISF takeover of airport-Kolkata-Cities-The Times of India ] ] . As of now CISF is protecting a total of 54 international and domestic airports in the country.

"Consultancy Services"

In the year 1999, the Indian Parliament, further "widened the charter" of duties of CISF by allowing its deployment even in Joint Ventures as also permitting it to provide consultancy services in fields of Security & Fire Protection to even private sector, among others. The then Deputy Prime Minister of India, Mr. L K Advani, formally "launched" the Consultancy Services of CISF at a glittering function in New Delhi on 7th December 2001.The CISF Consultancy Wing has since provided consultancy to over 50 clients which include big names in private and public sectors. Its "quality management system" has received ISO 9001: 2000 certification.

"Uniqueness"

CISF is unique as a Force of its kind in that it has a well trained Fire Wing comprising 4625 Officers and personnel giving Fire Protection to 77 industries. As of 2006, it remains one of the largest "central paramilitary forces" in India with strength of nearly 105,000 with perhaps "no parallel" in the entire world for a Government agency providing security to such a large number (269) industries with thousands of million rupees worth of assets. It is shaping up as an elite Force protecting the "critical infrastructure" of India.

External links

* [http://cisf.nic.in/ Official website]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/cisf.htm Description on globalsecurity.org]

References