Guard Change at the Gates: CISF Moves In as Kolkata Police Step Back
A paradigm shift is taking place in the security structure at the Raj Bhavan in West Bengal in light of the replacement of the CRPF by the CISF for the protection of the Governor in West Bengal. The decision has been taken in accordance with the directions issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which marks a move away from traditional security measures to an advanced security strategy involving elaborate surveillance and guarding of important government installations. Although it has been customary to have the Governor protected by the CRPF, the inclusion of the CISF into the scheme of things is expected to facilitate a higher level of security. Taking advantage of the CISF’s special training in the guarding of important state installations, the new setup seeks to ensure a strong security cover not only for the officials but also for the residential areas of the Raj Bhavan.
Along with the shift in staffing at the center, there is another crucial security system modification, which drastically reduces the role played by the Kolkata Police in ensuring the overall security of the President. This approach can be seen as a significant departure from the traditional cooperation between state and center when it comes to providing personal protection to the President. In a clear sign of drawing lines between responsibilities of the two forces involved, the duties performed by the state police have been limited to logistics, specifically transportation. As things stand today, the local police force has to provide pilot and tail vehicles that will follow the Governor’s motorcade as it passes through the streets of the city. Upon the arrival of the Governor to the gates of Raj Bhavan, all activities of the police end.
The result of such a move will be to establish a security enclave under federal governance in the midst of Kolkata, thereby minimizing overlapping responsibilities in administration while ensuring the protection of the Governor by the CISF as a single agency. It is expected that in this way the Union Home Ministry would manage to keep clear the jurisdictions of different agencies and avoid any overlapping or miscoordination issues. Thus, it is becoming a trend nowadays that VIPs are to be protected professionally with special emphasis on access and perimeter security measures. This means that the security needs of the Raj Bhavan have become so important to be kept at the center stage that the local Kolkata police are no longer responsible for VIP protection.
