The Home Ministry has turned down the Civil Aviation Ministry’s proposal to raise a separate force for aviation security. Instead, the government wants to bring all airports under the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a senior Home Ministry official said.
The proposal to raise a separate force for airports was first mooted in 2012 by the then Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, and then too, it had met with resistance from the Home Ministry.
“We are going to overhaul the security of all airports. A dedicated plan is being worked out. A security audit of all airports have been ordered and, based on the report, their security will be upgraded,” Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told journalists on Tuesday.
The decision to bring all airports under CISF protection came after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval observed at a review meeting earlier this month that the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, the regulatory body of the Civil Aviation Ministry, was not competent to raise an exclusive force.
He said the Home Ministry had the necessary competence, expertise as well as experience.
At the meeting on August 5, attended by Mr. Rijiju, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and top officials of the Ministries of Home and Civil Aviation, Mr. Doval pulled up civil aviation officials for not handling the security issues arising out of the high-rise buildings around many airports.
It is learnt that the National Security Adviser suggested that the Ministry explore the feasibility of imposing a pre-condition that the State governments take measures to secure airports in all aspects before granting licence to high-rise buildings that come up around them.
The meeting was called after the attacks on Brussels’ Zaventem airport and Metro.
A plan is also under way to de-link the cost of security personnel, now borne by the airport developer, as security is a “sovereign function.” In practice, an official said, the salary of CISF personnel is now reimbursed by the airport developer, particularly in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, where airport development fees are charged from passengers.
“If we take over the entire security apparatus, it will help lower ticket prices, as the developer will no longer be able to charge fees in the name of airport development,” an official said.
The meeting also determined that a four-member committee would come up with Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for random checking of vehicles of air travellers headed for the airport, thorough checking of cargo, and procedures for detection of flying objects and drones. The report is to be submitted in 20 days.
The meeting also decided that 98 functional civil airports in the country would be brought under the security cover of the CISF, the specialised force for airport security.
As many as 39 of these airports are not under CISF cover now.
Among the 98 airports, 26, including Delhi and Mumbai, are “hyper-sensitive.” Of these hyper-sensitive airports, 18 are under CISF protection while six — like Srinagar and Imphal — are being guarded by the CRPF, the State police or other paramilitary forces.
There are 56 airports in the sensitive category, of which only 37 have CISF cover.
