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We need to look at the complete gamut of security related issues, which can affect our nation/organizations in a holistic manner, and need to plan for all of them,. Rather than undertaking this exercise in a piecemeal manner. Be it a tsunami, earthquake, floods,fire, terrorist action, or cyber attack, we need to think through all of them.

Call for Action
There is a requirement to have adequate in-house reaction capability in terms of fire power to effectively and promptly respond in case of a terror attack. As such, the Arms Act needs to be amended to enable carriage of small arms by private security guards. The modalities can be worked out in terms of issuing the license to only ex-servicemen, who are available in large numbers and have handled these weapons during their service. Their credentials are also well established.

At present, there are a plethora of forces/agencies dealing with anti terrorist operations. Starting with the state police, para military forces , army, navy, coast guards, rapid action force and national security guards . As witnessed in Mumbai, during the 26/11 terror strike, no single agency was responsible for centrally coordinating and conducting the complete operation. All the forces/agencies involved were working in compartmentalized mode. As such there is a requirement to institute a mechanism to have a single force/agency responsible for coordinating and conducting the complete operation.

A number of intelligence agencies are operating at the state and national level. Besides these, the defence forces, state police, central police organizations, para military forces have their own intelligence network and set up. Actionable intelligence is hardly available to the end user as there is a turf war, and typically, no agency/force is willing to share the intelligence. At times, the intelligence is disseminated through letters, which defeats the very purpose of providing actionable intelligence. There is a requirement to institute a mechanism to centrally feed in and coordinate the intelligence inputs, analyze the same and disseminate it in real-time to the end user. This set up could be instituted at the state level and replicated at the national level. The Multi Agency Center (MAC) established by the government tasked with collecting intelligence in real-time, to optimize intelligence flow and to coordinate between different agencies is a step in this direction.

During emergencies our nations first responders, the police, fire fighters, and emergency medical professionals come to the rescue. They are first on the scene when disasters strike and deserve the tools necessary to get the job done safely and quickly. As such there is a requirement to have adequate radio spectrum for first responders, inadequate radio spectrum hinders first responder communications. New spectrum is needed to facilitate interoperable communications between responder agencies, to allow effective radio communications during large-scale responses to major disasters, and to allow emergency response agencies to deploy next generation communications technologies.

The government must have a national warning system through which it is able to provide either early warning or a situation update to avoid panic and rumor mongering for all hazards, including terrorism. This could be built upon the existing infrastructure of the mobile service providers network for which technology is available. Usually, the mobile network gets clogged when there is a heavy increase in usage and you can not speak or send an SMS. This additional hardware would provide the capability to send SMS alert/update to thousands of people as also the plethora of government and private agencies involved in the relief and rescue operations in the disaster affected area.

Financial networks, our energy grid, communication systems and other critical infrastructures are vital assets supporting our daily lives. They provide for, and sustain, Indias economic and political systems and are essential for our safety, health, and security. We must ensure that these infrastructures are robust, reliable, and resilient in the face of possible natural or manmade risks. The government needs to take steps in this direction.

Revamping the Police Force
There is an urgent need to implement the Supreme Court directive on Police Reforms issued in September 2006 to the center and state governments on some issues. There is a need to constitute a State Security Commission to ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police, lay down broad policy guidelines, and evaluate performance of the state police. It should be ensured that the director general of police is appointed through a merit based, transparent process and enjoys a minimum tenure of two years. Also, other police officers on operational duties (including superintendents of police in-charge of a district and station house officers in-charge of a police station) should also have a minimum tenure of two years. There should be separate investigation for law and order functions of the police.A police establishment board should be set up, which will decide all transfers, postings, promotions and other service related matters of police officers of below the rank of deputy superintendent of police, and make recommendations on postings and transfers of officers above the rank of deputy superintendent of police. Independent police complaint authorities at the state and district levels to look into public complaints against police officers in cases of serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt or rape in police custody should also be considered. Moreover, A national security commission should be set up at the union level to prepare a panel for selection and placement of chiefs of the central police organizations (CPO), who should also be given a minimum tenure of two years.

The police needs to focus on a few areas to enhance its effectiveness. To fight the terrorists, and modern day crimes, you have to be equipped with the latest equipment and technology. Vehicles, arms, ammunition, communication equipment, machinery and clothing need to be procured on priority to address this issue. Specialist training in commando operations, jungle warfare and counter insurgency operations needs to be imparted to hand-picked policemen. Besides this, training to counter chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) terrorist threats also needs to be imparted. In addition, training for handling sophisticated weapons and equipment, as also training to handle hostage situations should be imparted.

Immediate response is what is required, as the maximum damage that usually occurs is in the initial stages. As such police at the district level should have its own SWAT teams. Armed police units can be upgraded. There is a requirement to create data bases in every district headquarter that capture all crime related data and this should be available at the state and national level to the police department. The analysis of this data could provide clues to the pattern and nature of crimes being committed and carry out future predictions; types of firearms being used; nature of victims; movement of offenders; profiling; places targeted; etc. To start with create such a data base for the last three years. Hardware and software of the cyber forensic labs, dealing with cyber crimes, needs to be upgraded on priority. Besides this, there is a requirement to have a pool of trained manpower with the requisite skill sets, available at the district level.

All the security related issues need to be dealt within a holistic manner, and proactive measures should be taken against all man made and natural disasters, to cover the complete spectrum, rather than addressing these in a piece-meal manner. The recommended measures would help the organizations and the nation at large to provide a safe and secure environment to its citizens and business establishments.

Sandeep Sudan
The author is regional head, north India, Mahindra Special Services Group

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