Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu): Anti-India forces, unable to stomach its growing economic might, want to damage the country and weaken its strategic position, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
Terrorism is a "big threat" today but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up the issue strongly on the global stage, taking onboard most countries to address the issue, he said.
In his address after reviewing the passing out parade of the personnel of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) here, Singh said the day is not far when India would become an economic power.
"Today, India is counted among the emerging economies of the world. It is emerging as the fastest growing (large) economy in the world. I can say that India is one among the top 10 economies of the world today," he said.
The world has started "realising" the fact that the day is not far when by 2030 India will be among the top three economies of the world, he said. The size of India's economy was approximately $2 trillion and it was likely to touch $5 trillion by 2030, he said.
"But anti-India forces basically don't like all these trends. They want to cause damage in those sensitive areas where its economic and strategic strength could be weakened," he added.
Terrorist organisations want to "inflict damage" on the country, he said, calling terrorism a "big threat" to many countries." "Terrorism is a big threat...the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and the 26/11 incidents in India have shown that the impact of terror strikes can be felt for a long time," he said. The home minister urged the CISF, tasked with guarding the country's vital strategic installations like airports and industrial units, to have "core competence" to tackle terrorism.
"So, CISF should undertake regular security audit of every installation and use new technologies to strengthen the security of such installations," he added. He termed cyber attacks as the "new face" of terrorism.
Under this, efforts are made to target digital set-ups, he said. "CCTV, wifi networks and computer networks are present in every office today. And these are on the radar of hackers and anti-national forces," Singh added.
Like the CRPF has specialised units such as Rapid Action Force (RAF), CISF should also develop a dedicated wing to deal with issues like cyber attacks, he said.
The Union Home Ministry has issued advisories to create such a mechanism to other police forces also, he added. Stressing on women empowerment, he urged the CISF to become the "first" paramilitary force to achieve 33 per cent reservation for women in the force.
After becoming the home minster, he had asked all state governments and central armed police forces to implement the quota for women, Singh said. Women are not inferior to men in any respect, he added.
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The home ministry, he said, has decided to provide a uniform allowance of Rs10,000 every year to jawans. This would do away with the issue of fitting which they faced when they were issued readymade uniforms. He lauded the CISF for its contribution to national security and said, in some instances, companies of the central paramilitary force had been even sent to regions affected by Naxalism.
Earlier, 1043 personnel including assistant commandants, sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors took out a parade, marking their formal induction into the force.
CISF Director General O.P. Singh said they were trained in the use of weapons, communication systems, tackling ambush and other aspects related to security. The CISF personnel also demonstrated their skills and enacted situations, including those simulating counter-terror operations.
