Our security set-up is in an urgent need of an overhaul. This very important suggestion should be taken in the right earnest by the cocerned authorities.

Indian mentality !

As mentioned there is a serious security threat to India. A simple experience of mine tells you how dangerous the situation is. Basically I am computer science student. I test Internet networks. One fine day I was passing through a civil court (location Andhra pradesh) I was connected to court wireless network. This was one year back. And guess what that is still vulnerable! And there are still more cases like this. What would you think about this scenario. "Group of computer experts working for some terrorist organisations, their mission to destroy India's computer network!". So guys how long would it take them to complete their mission? My guess less than 3 months to hit all the major targets! Government should act fast towards security. I am just a kid, yet I know the security vulnerabilities in India.

Rajesh,
You sure do keep giving us very meaningful wake-up calls! With these scorching summers , I am thinking of a particular brand of ice cream you literally knocked out of our lives! A better security shall only make us earn the confidence required to posses nuclear fuels

We attach too much importance to the useless things and forget the actual core that is needed to be done. The CISF has a shift of 12 hours for some personnel. If the reliever does not report then 24 hrs at a stretch. No matter how much you train ppl, if you are going to beat them to death on duty, then they are going to hate their job and that opens up loop holes of the enormous kind. No training or equipment can keep us safe. Am not doubting on the loyalty of the staff. But being over-worked and underpaid brings its own disadvantages

It has been the problem with India all the way after independence .Our security systems and security forces at the airports ,railway stations and other places of important significance are tightened only when some ambush or front-line attacks by some terrorists takes place and leads to a myriad of loss of life and property,It is at these time of crisis that our security tightens but in most cases damage had already been done .I think the prime reason for this is the complacency on part of the authorities whose job this is.We are very optimistic about how well it is going ,there has not been a terrorist attack for 3 months and no bomb blast for 6 months but we tend to forget the past and just say ALL IS WELL but the truth is that with India being the numero uno target of the terrorist nothing is well unless you take measures to make it so.

If you compare the VIP security cover given to some politicians, it is unprecedented. With all the high tech gadgetry and amount of money spent on them. It baffles me, how ignorant these politicians or policy makers could be about security of strategically important places. It is a shame to see that some stupid politician that terrorists are not interested in, get all the security where as places of uttermost importance are left to mercy of chance. It is a joke. India needs to rethink.

Well said! That reminds me of an incident around 4 years back. I was showing my Japanese friends around Gurgaon for an office space. There was this commercial building next to Max Hospital that they liked and wanted to click a photograph (from the road). As soon as they took out a camera a security guard prohibited them from doing it and could not be convinced otherwise! Seems like he was also trained by our Security Agencies !!!

Good point in case!
This reminds me of a friend of mine saying the short halcyon after 26/11 was not becaude of security improvement but because the terrorists were occupied on other matters.

Security is not about number of personnel or regualations or luck; it is matter of savvy, persistence and strong will to assess the threats properly.

The rules of engagement have changed, nothing is invincible or impermeable and we have examples galore… …even the so called superpowers are struggling to deal with the ingenuity of the human mind and the machines that we have created… …yes, India is working “bhagwan bharose” but a more concerted, proactive effort is required from the GOI to overhaul certain institutions which haven’t kept pace in these changing times…

I could not agree more. After 26/11 Mumbai Terror, I was returning from Kolkata within few days of the event. I was apalled at the airport security. In the early morning, I woke every sleeping security personnel including their bosses, even dropped a written suggestion.I wrote to Kolkata local and national newspapers and celebrated journalists like Barkha Dutt, offering more details of my conversation with Security Personnel. Nobody ever contacted me to know the incident.In Goa Airport, I was allowed to pass through the security with a match box in my pocket. When I noticed it later in the waiting area in my pocket, I went back to the security to surrender it (as dropping it in a bin would have landed in a wrong hand) and criticized their sincerity, it was more of a humiliation to me than any accountability on their part. I May not be a celebrity, reputed writer or an expert on this issue, so, can be ignored, but I am not convinced that Indian Security Agencies and authorities have adequate work, training or security culture in line with modern day threats and vulnerability. Infront of govt buildings around the country, police constables busy mixing Khaini & chatting is a common scene. Same is very common in any important and strategic installations around the country. Look at the security arrangement of Ministry Buildings in New Delhi. It is just not secured and something is just waiting to happen & it will happen. Unless Indians put more value on their lives & political bosses show character, PM's visits to New York will remain an inalienable feature of Indian foreign policy. How could 45 CRPF in Nandigram 76 in Dantewada cud perish without any fight? Have they been taught in Security business your life is in yr hand & u r not going for picnic, their families cud be saved. security personnels r the most dispirited souls & faces of abject poverty ignobly harm holier causes to fight securty of India. world of wishes must see actions. May God bless India.

All our VIPs and POLITICIANs have adequate security with almost no lapses and on the other hand the dams are vulnerable to security breaches.
I have a suggestion: Why dont we make dams using politicians instead of cement?
:-))

Are we not getting too much paranoid over here? If you look around there endless open security loop holes..for everything. Why not prioritize what is of high value? And carrying swiss knife on a aircraft..what can you accomplish with that in real terms?
I think this blog started well..but did not finish well

My retired dad's house was broken into 3 times. The second time we had installed iron grill to the existing windows and iron grill doors also. But the third time this was also broken like a card board. Looking at the destruction I thought that the thieves must have taken an half an hour to do the job but the repairman said its only a two minute job for a professional. Yes for a professional he can break into anywhere be it your office, home or shop. The professional can easily break in to your net security. For a commoner the job is difficult but for the professional they are trained to do it. The 9/11 and 26/11attacks have made us know how venerable we are.

discipline starts from our home and we are indiscilpline in every sphere of daily life be it traffic sense ,civic sense,we lack social &moral responsility for our city ,nation.India is only a place for us a space to live &for recreation.feeling of motherland is missing desperately.too much casual& ghetto. most of us are involved in delivering homilies from the roof top but none of us really does it in righteousness.only army people maintain discipline &lead a disciplined life thats why we are freely moving around.we have laid back ,lackdaisical approach which is a reflection for what took place in our security installations.better wake up.

rajesh sir !! what is this? such a blog? what has happened to you? TIL has sucked the jornalism out of you...please help urself...

Rajesh, you have a point, but it looks like our security shall remain dumb for some time to come. The reasons for this are: Firstly, we have not had a war or a war like serious situation all over India for thirty years now, so one whole generation has come up without knowing the nitty-gritty of a war. Basic seriousness of purpose is just not there. Secondly, as a people, we cannot remain attached to an idea unless either there is a severe punishment or a strong allurement for doing so. Thirdly, an essential ingredient of our understanding of a VIP personality is that he/she does not accept or obey security rules, and the commoners also therefore, ape him.
As if to balance this, nature has given us a capability to go in a frenzy of security consciousness whenever there is a real war or a war like situation. Let us hope that this will help us at least to some extent, if not entirely.

Our security systems are bad because they are a combination of bureaucratic stupidity and stubbornness ( sorry, am I repeating the same thing?). One actual incident will illustrate this point. Around the year 2000, a senior Home Ministry official announced in NDelhi that henceforth if any foreign visitor visited any Indian national’s house for a period of more than 3 hours , the latter will have to file a written report to the concerned police station giving all details. Now at a place like NDelhi ( and elsewhere , too) this seemed to be an unmanageable proposition, so there was a journalistic clamour on this, particularly with the newly acquired power of private run TV media. One media man pointed out that the then President had a foreign national as his son in law, and the latter did visit the Presidential House now & then. With the new rule, the President’s secretariat would remain busy with the writing & filing of this kind of report with Chanakypuri Police Station.
Quietly, the order was withdrawn after a few days.

The words are great but, how many of those sitting on top is hearing. To quote an interesting incident I just met a day before; We in company cab entered into a defense colony and the guards (PUC passed) blown a visil signaling the cabbie to stop but, he took it very lightly and drove off! Now, we were stooped by the guards at the next entrance....so far so good. But, a strange thing happened thereafter....I saw buses and other vehicles plying around the colony without any stoppage. I quizzed the guards for the reason and the answer was that the restriction is only for private cabs and not for all vehicles. Seems bombs can only be carried in private cab and that too by a cab driver. Funny!! Gave it a laugh but, did not reacted as the army men were down to their own standards i.e. we are above the law and they started to blow off the cab driver with awesome words.

Believe it or not...this is the security measure for one of the most important installations of India.

Our installations are always vulnerable to terror attacks. They need to be given complete protection and the security forces must act as a bulwark against such perils. But the security forces must be intensively trained to fight such extremists and focus should be directed on competence. They need to be motivated by a range of incentives which can help them deliver effective services. All the installations whether public or private need to be safeguarded against any contingencies.

I agree to what you say , same thing happened when we were travelling to Sangla and crossed naptha jhakri project signs of no protography everywhere but tourist on the road were busy clicking picutres of the tunnels and the project from a distance , where the guards were not posted ,, we seriously need to look into the matter of security and laxity on our part and play an important role on the whole as an individual.

The irony Rajesh in this is that in India you often run foul of the overzealous 'security' officer who believes that taking a photo of anything is a security breach. As a example, take a look at aviation. In India we have hardly any documented aviation history, largely because of an archaic law that prohibited photography at all civil airports. What 'security' was this supposed to bring? If anything, generations of aviation spotters were denied the opportunity to chronicle some of the great aviation moments in Inddia. Of course as you pointed out, security where it is needed is a joke.

You must understand that 'no photography' is very much there in every important installation in the world. Once you allow the photopraghy, when the whole installation could be viewed on the google world, there will be no control as to upto what limit you can go inside a partucular installation.
Todays technology has done wonders. I have the experience of visiting the defence installations in the world where despite having CCTVs and and all the other electronic technology including the Body scanning etc. one has to be frisked and is asked to empty every thing on a person.
Strict security is good for everyone including the visitors. Moreover, my experience tells me if I was with a big official, I will be checked more thoroughly.
The Security agency should be thorough, well trained and professional in its' job. Viewing some installations from a distance does not give any clue as to what is inside the installation. However, it might give the logistic idea to the person involved for which there are CCTV cameras connected to the control rooms which are monitored 24X7.
Training and professionlism is the most important aspect of any modern security system. Simply posting the security personnel on the gates of an installation does not mean we have secured the place. The most important aspect is how many layers of security are available in a particular installation, depending on the threat percept. Accordingly, the security personnel shall also be rotated and screened periodically by a different agency.
We must look into our security system and review it periodically to avoid the recent reports of thefts from our nuclear installations.

Good article. I just want to add a few things here. The quality of man power who perform the security duties. Its a known fact that for Airport security or any other security provided to strategic locations the officials chosen are probably from the bottom of the pyramid. These postings are not looked upon with great anticipation by the CRPF/ Police officers who are actually keen to work and prove their mettle. This mentality needs to change and best of the best should be protecting these instead of providing Z-Class security to the corrupt politicians.

Rajesh, one problem is that we treat all these responsibilities as "posts" that carry "job security" and government benefits.

When the government looks to appoint people to these responsibilities, they publish some nonsense about 2 posts reserved for SC/ST, 2 for freedom fighters (can you believe those are still around today and applying for government jobs?!), another 1 or 2 for handicapped, and things like that. Never do they ask for people who can do a good job. Never do they seek to promote merited people.

So, we have an entire bureaucracy of useless certificate wallahs. They are not there to do anything useful for you and me. They are there only to fill a post in the name of "social justice", and to get promoted from time to time based on their certificates.

And they do that very well, indeed, filling their posts and getting themselves promoted, just as expected.
Look at their mindless and uncoordinated purchases in the name of security. All done for one reason only -- kickbacks. Who cares if those things even work? One can always cover oneself by unleashing a torrent of empty words, typical of us Indians. Boy, aren't we Indians good at rattling off excuses without even bothering to understand the problem, aided by dumb journalists asking dumb questions?

Just today I was watching a TV reporting on the just failed GSLV mission, and can you believe the kind of questions put by journalists?

Here's one: "How many people are going to analyse the problem"?!!!

I kid you not. The journalist wanted a number. Not even "who would be analysing it", which would be a slightly better question though almost as pointless.

You will need to give top priority to MERIT if you expect our country to develop meaningfully. Just placing equipment worth crores in the hands of certificate-wallahs will accomplish nothing -- except the certainty of huge kickbacks in their purchase, and ongoing kickbacks in the name of so-called upgrades, repairs and spares.

Severe Reprimand and penalties for careless execution of a job is required to build in the seriousness. This is especially required for all government jobs. Govt can increase the perks and salary for a government servant but also make there job extremely tough and answerable, since these huys come from a rigorous selection process. A lot of rot can go away.

I did not read the post. seems this guy rajesh doesn't run ot of topics to blame india and everything indians. He feels that people will be encouraged to do somethig after reading that so much is wrong abt our society. WRONG!! People will be encouraged if he writes motivational stories on how people have overcome or are trying to make india a better place. He can write his own experience in this regard if he had done any good thing rather than just writin abt things we all know exist. Toi, pls stop putting these articles on the front page. For the country's sake.

Start with basics. Stop the VIP culture at Security check-points that the VIPs are untouchables/ unfriskable. Stick to the names on the board who are the only exceptions. I have carried minimum 2-3 lighters on several flights exiting from India. They dont oject in UAE ports. They why have two sets of large knives and forks with meals served on board. Start being proactive & not reactive. Reward security officials better for them to have more focus in their jobs. Bring law Enforcement outisde Political control for better accoutability. Make the President's office the C-o-C of Police. De-politicize the Prez office. Get Pvt Sector involved with strict accountability. reduce attrition rates from public to Pvt. Bring in young talents & skillsets. MAKE A MEANINGFUL START by prioritizing things & effective policies. God Bless.

To Vijay above, writing at: April 15,2010 at 09:46 PM IST

India has plenty of such "motivational stories" already. Do you mean to say that India is in such a mess because we have a serious shortage of motivational stories?

Don't we have enough examples of motivators from the past: Patanjali, Swami Vivekananda, Ramanujam, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Jamshedji Tata, Tendulkar...?

The fact is, we need both: we need inspiration from such people, and we also need the ability to look at ourselves honestly. You cannot solve a problem unless you first of all ACCEPT that you have a problem. Simply making slogans about India shining is not going to achieve anything. It will only make us complacent, and it will allow our so-called leaders to loot us while telling us flattering lies about how brightly we are shining.

When the whole body is affected by HIV, there is no point in boasting about what beautiful fingernails the patient has. Also, no use just reading motivational stories to the patient, or dressing him up in fancy clothes and feeling happy when some visitor says how nice he looks. India does not become okay just because we clean Janpath when some foreigner visits India. You need to accept the problems and treat accordingly.

David Headley came into FBI's radar due to a vigilant officer at Atlanta airport in USA.If Mumbai airport officers had been equally vigilant they would have checked him out during his 5-6 visits thru Mumbai in 2 years with so many entry/exit stamps of Pakistan and other countries on his passport.Govt officers must be trained to be ever alert and vigilant.I am surprised that no one in Govt or the media have raised this question.

I totally agree to this. We definitely need to improve the security system. In India the security people are much reluctant to do thorough check-up when I entered US port of entry, I saw the security was thorough. Ofcourse even with such security in US, terrorists have been able to pass through them and were able to hijack. The recent attempt bomb attack on US flight during christmas is the best example for this, though it was stopped. I do believe we need to improve even with the network. Recently Chinese were able to hack the system and get in info. And indians are more computer savvy, so we can create better secured network.

What about the threat from the sea? how strongly we are prepared for safety of our offshore installations seas on our both sides. Oil & gas actvities are very vital for the country.
Even sea pirates were reported to be around 800 kms in the Arabian sea from our coast. All coordinated efforts are required from all agencies to ensure that there are multiple levels of security agencies carrying out the constant vigil.