Presiding over the inauguration of the National Security Guard (NSG) Regional Hub campus at Kolkata today, Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah termed this as an important step in the direction of giving adequate facilities to the brave NSG jawans, which are important for them to function unhindered in ensuring the security of the Nation. The Home Minister presided over the inauguration and founding stone laying ceremony of various welfare projects for NSG, amounting to over Rs. 245 crores, across Kolkata, Manesar, Chennai and Mumbai. He said that the various facilities and schemes being inaugurated today, would go a long way in ensuring the boosting of capabilities of the force and raising the morale of the jawans.
This state-of-the-art regional hub complex at Kolkata, worth over Rs.162 crores, will have Residential and Non Residential Complexes to house 460 persons and families, office accommodation and modern training facilities such as Baffle firing range, indoor shooting range, obstacles, swimming pool, sports complex and artificial rock craft wall etc. This latest NSG complex has become a model regional hub of the NSG, which will help in honing the professional acumen of the NSG commandos and also contribute significantly in capacity building of the first responders, the Police forces of the States. The area of responsibility of this Hub comprises of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand & the entire North East. The Kolkata hub, hitherto functioning from the Kolkata airport, is the fourth to have permanent infrastructure after Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
Apart from the inaugurating Regional Hub, Kolkata the Home Minister also inaugurated the 120 family quarters at Training Centre, Manesar; Explosive Magazine built at NSG Hyderabad Hub; and laid foundation stones for the construction of family quarters at Regional Hub Chennai and Mumbai. This newly created infrastructure will improve the housing satisfaction and enhance Operational as well Training capabilities.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Shah assured the force that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, all expectations of NSG from the Central Government would be fulfilled in the next 5 years. The government would put in place an efficient system that would fulfil all the needs of the force, whether it is related to the training modules for the officers for keeping them abreast with latest technology available globally and modus operandi of terrorist organizations; provision of modern technology, arms and equipments; family welfare, among others. Government of India wants to keep NSG two steps ahead in the current global scenario and this vision would be achieved in the near future, he said.
Shri Shah said that since its inception, NSG jawans have given supreme sacrifices to secure the Nation from all terrorist threats and have been successful in instilling confidence in the people. The NSG commando has become synonymous with a 'sense of security' for the citizens of India, by dedicating each second of his valuable life for securing the Nation. Shri Shah appreciated the preparedness levels of the NSG to keep up PM's vision of zero tolerance towards terrorism and eliminating them with minimum collateral damage. He also encouraged the force to keep evolving with the changing threat scenario, update its skills and capabilities continuously, so as to bring down the response time towards any challenge. Stressing on the importance of bringing down the duration of eliminating a threat, he said that there is a need to bring a positive change in the training policy, infrastructure, response strategy, technology and the priority of the jawans in the training. Shri Shah said that the mere presence of NSG must be a deterrent enough for those who think of spreading terror and harm the unity and integrity of the Nation.
"Historically, India has never been an aggressor; we want world peace, yet we would not allow anyone to disturb India's peace, unity and integrity", Shri Shah said. He mentioned that after the surgical srtike and the Balakot airstrikes the world recognises the fact that India has a bold leadership that would not let even a drop of its soldiers' blood go waste. Under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, Indian security forces have displayed their capability to strike deep inside enemy territory to avenge any act of terror against the country, which hitherto was only displayed by US and Israel. This government has given the country a long awaited and well-defined proactive security policy that is distinct from its foreign policy.
The Home Minister reassured the force that it is a prime priority of the Modi government to ensure the welfare of the soldier and his family. He also mentioned that since the Modi government came to power, it has initiated various schemes for the welfare of the security forces, like one rank one pension, which has led to improvement in the satisfaction ratio of the security personnel. The government is putting in place a well designed policy that will ensure that the jawans spend at least 100 days in a year with their family. A time bound programme is to be implemented to upgrade the facilities for the jawans at the place of their posting, which is being monitored by the Home Minister. He promised that the determination of the jawans in securing the Nation would be reciprocated in letter and spirit by the Modi government through securing their family's future, he added. Concluding his address, the Home Minister saluted each soldier and their families for dedicating their lives for the Nation.
In his welcome address, DG NSG, Shri Shri Anup Kumar Singh welcomed the Chief Guest and informed that NSG has conducted joint exercises with USA and France as part of its capacity building efforts. The force has countered 115 terrorists and has been awarded 3 Ashok Chakras, 2 Keerti Chakras, 4 Shourya Chakras, 115 Police medals, which stand as a testimony to the NSG’s competence. NSG is a world class ‘zero error’ force and can counter any kind of attack in minimum response time. NSG which comprises of Indian Army and CAPFs, has multi-dimensional responsibility of countering terrorist attacks/hijack attempts and also providing proximate security. He said that the NSG Hub has state of the art training facilities to train State Police Forces thereby helping in increasing their professional capabilities.
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