By C Shivakumar
Chennai:
Slamming the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for having a large proportion of medically unfit officers on its rolls, a report by a Washington thinktank has revealed that the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), an intelligence sharing mechanism set up in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, has not considered the ICG neither as a user nor as provider of critical information generated.
NATGRID is an integrated intelligence grid to link the database of several departments and ministries to collect comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies.
But, unlike the NIA and the proposed NCTC, it is essentially a tool enabling security agencies to locate and obtain relevant information on terror suspects from pooled data of various organisations and services in the country.
It is being implemented in four phases, the first two of which will be operationalised by 2014 at a cost of Rs 1,200 crores.
The report ‘US-India Homeland Security Cooperation’, by Centre for Strategic and International Studies prepared earlier this month, states that the ICG, designated recently as lead intelligence agency for maritime borders, does not figure in current NATGRID plans.
Painting a poor view of the ICG, it points out that a large percentage of Coast Guard officers and enrolled personnel are medically unfit to serve at sea, limiting human capital options for staffing critical patrol missions.
“The need to transform this workforce deficit into security readiness and enforcement can’t be underestimated.
India and the United States can add additional milestones to support their Strategic Dialogue to bridge the gaps in the workforce development,” the report noted.
Among other things, the study proposes cooperation between the coast guards of the two countries to build a sustainable training portfolio to support the forthcoming ICG academy as well as establish coastal security exercises to coordinate land-based policing and coastal surveillance and reconnaissance.
“Improvements to India’s human capital deficit via guidance on personnel, technology and regulations could facilitate deeper US-India cooperation. An examination of best practices for the maritime security and trade industries would benefit both US and India as they seek to reform and improve their own maritime infrastructure,” the report added.
Chennai:
Slamming the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for having a large proportion of medically unfit officers on its rolls, a report by a Washington thinktank has revealed that the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), an intelligence sharing mechanism set up in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, has not considered the ICG neither as a user nor as provider of critical information generated.
NATGRID is an integrated intelligence grid to link the database of several departments and ministries to collect comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies.
But, unlike the NIA and the proposed NCTC, it is essentially a tool enabling security agencies to locate and obtain relevant information on terror suspects from pooled data of various organisations and services in the country.
It is being implemented in four phases, the first two of which will be operationalised by 2014 at a cost of Rs 1,200 crores.
The report ‘US-India Homeland Security Cooperation’, by Centre for Strategic and International Studies prepared earlier this month, states that the ICG, designated recently as lead intelligence agency for maritime borders, does not figure in current NATGRID plans.
Painting a poor view of the ICG, it points out that a large percentage of Coast Guard officers and enrolled personnel are medically unfit to serve at sea, limiting human capital options for staffing critical patrol missions.
“The need to transform this workforce deficit into security readiness and enforcement can’t be underestimated.
India and the United States can add additional milestones to support their Strategic Dialogue to bridge the gaps in the workforce development,” the report noted.
Among other things, the study proposes cooperation between the coast guards of the two countries to build a sustainable training portfolio to support the forthcoming ICG academy as well as establish coastal security exercises to coordinate land-based policing and coastal surveillance and reconnaissance.
“Improvements to India’s human capital deficit via guidance on personnel, technology and regulations could facilitate deeper US-India cooperation. An examination of best practices for the maritime security and trade industries would benefit both US and India as they seek to reform and improve their own maritime infrastructure,” the report added.
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