March 20, 2014

Press Note Eng Dt: 20/03/2014 on Coastal Security

Hindi press is available at the end of the letter.

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Office of Shaktisinh Gohil

National Spokesperson, AICC

https://shaktisinhgohil.com

Press Note 20^thMarch, 2014

Not for any political reasons but for national security the issue of serious negligence has to be made public.
The sensitive issue of national security was taken up with the Chief Minister but there was no response and hence for national interest these issues are made public through press conference.
Negligence in security in the coastal area quite close to Pakistan border.
Central govt has given 30 boats with night vision cameras, but they are not used.
Instead of setting up coastal police stations, money is used for police stations in Banaskantha and Ahmedabad which are not relevant to coastal security.
None of the 21 coastal check posts operational in Gujarat.
Border district of Kutch has coastline of 238 kms but only one police station.
Police station in Coastal border between Harshad Mata temple and Dwarka has been shifted elsewhere leaving this vast track open to terrorists.
As per the norms, every coastal patrol boat should operate for 1800 hours every year, but there is shortfall in it ranging from 78% to 91 percent.
Patrol boats remain idle for months together instead of on the job.
Gujarat had to build all weather jetties for coastal security, but none has been constructed.
8 to 100 percent posts are vacant in the Anti-Terrorist Squad despite clear view of the CAG in its report of 2009 that ATS vacancies must be filled immediately.
Marine Exclusive wing for Intelligence and Investigation was to be set up, but Gujarat government has done nothing.
In Mumbai terror attack a boat was taken from Porbandar.
The CM should answer to the nation that despite CAG’s recommendation why security issue was ignored?
Why no tight security measures have been taken up against terrorists?

AICC spokesperson Shaktisnh Gohil has said that his party has always considered national security above politics. But due to sheer negligence of Gujarat Government on this issue certain facts have to be made public for national interest. The sensitive issue of security was taken up with Chief Minister Narendra Modi but he kept certain things secret. After waiting for more than week even after the deadline for answers by CM to questions by Congress lapsed the party has been forced to put before public the facts relating to sensitive issue of security of the country.

Despite Gujarat having longest coastline in India and the state bordering Pakistan, the Modi government has an attitude of indifference towards national security. This is despite the fact that the central government has provided funds of crores of rupees and what is more is that terrorists had used Porbandar to get a boat for 2008 attack in Mumbai.

Launching an all out attack on the Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP, Narendra Modi, AICC spokespersons Shaktisinh Gohil said that this negligence was quite shocking as the central government had given Gujarat not only funds but also a detailed road map for coastal security in the state which share land and sea border with Pakistan. This is in the state where it’s CM projects himself as the savior of national interest

In a media release exposing Modi’s model of governance on vital issue like national security, Gohil pointed out that border district of Kutch having coastline of 238 kms has only one coastal police station. He pointed out that security upto 12 nautical miles in the sea is responsibility of the state government.

He further pointed out that in 2005, central government had drawn up a Coastal Security Scheme (CSS) and provided funds for it. Nothing substantial has been done even as in 2008 (three years after the NSS) Gujarat coast was used for Mumbai terror attack.

In 2006, Gujarat was given a dose of massive funds with a well defined agenda of setting up 10 coastal police stations(CPS), 25 coastal check posts(CCP) and 46 coastal out posts(COPS).Gujarat was also given 30 patrol boats with latest equipment like night vision cameras, but they are not used in night.

Pointing out that Kutch and Jamnagar districts share border with Pakistan, he said that Kutch has only one coastal police station while the two CPS which were set up in Jamnagar as per the GOI plan have now been shifted to Vadinar and Okha for no obvious reason. This has left vast stretch between Harshad Mata temple and Dwarka temple open to all kind of terror activities. Alternative arrangement of diverting boats from elsewhere is quite impractical and consequently ineffective, he said.

Mata no madh and Hajipir in Kutch, Dwarkadheesh temple and Harshad Mata temple are places of religious faith which attract thousands and these places require great security being quite sensitive. There is financial provision for security of these places in the central plan, but it is just ignored.

What is worst, he said, money provided for coastal security infrastructure has been used for setting up police stations in Banaskantha and Ahmedabad. 21 Coastal Check posts have no staff and so they are only on paper. Of the 29 COPs, only 14 are functional that too with a skeleton staff of lower rank like constable and ASI making them almost non functional. There is only 29 per cent staff in these COPs, he pointed out.

Referring to plan for all weather jetties to have round the clock patrolling, Gohil gave ground reality with excerpts from the CAG report. No all weather jetties have been built. Patrolling is done involving support of private boats which makes security plans vulnerable to all kind of security risks.

Marine Exclusive wing for Intelligence and Investigation was to be set up, but Gujarat government has done nothing. The idea of the wing was to have an eye on disturbing activities in the coastal areas.

GOI has provided Gujarat state of 30 interceptor boats of which two are of 2 tonnes and one of five tonnes. As per the instructions of the central government, these boats had to patrol for 150 kms every month and 1800 kms every year. But there is shortfall ranging from 78 to 91 percent. Gohil gave to media photographs showing boats lying idle.

8 to 100 percent posts are vacant in the Anti-Terrorist Squad despite clear view of the CAG in its report of 2009 that ATS vacancies must be filled immediately. Instead of filling posts following CAG report, he said, more officers were shifted out of ATS. Citing figures of vacancies at higher level, he said that there was no DIG, no DSP while posts of DY SPs has vacancy of 67 percent. Situation at lower ranks is worse, he said. He doubted intentions of Modi in keeping these posts in sensitive organizations vacant.

CAG report of 2009 has made it very clear that security is being ignored as despite funds from the central government Global Positioning System (GPS) and Automatic Vehicle Locator System (AVLS) have not been installed. He further pointed out that Gujarat has rifles but no cartridges as brought out in CAG report.

Gohil alleged that BJP was using national security with an eye on vote bank politics. It raised issues in letters to Prime Minister and leaked them to media just for vote bank politics. The reality is totally different.

Gohil said that he had raised coastal security issues in a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister on March 3, 2014 with a request to reply within ten days. He said that he had taken care that the issue was not leaked in the media. Till the date, he said, Modi did not respond.

The CM should tell the nation that despite CAG’s recommendation why was security issue ignored? Why no reply was given to a confidential letter written by Gohil on security issue. Instead of tight security measures to stop terrorists from entering the state why Gujarat borders are open providing easy passage to terrorists? The CM has history of having heavy security force around himself while having a terror attack on Swaminarayan temple just opposite the Chief Minister’s house in Gandhinagar, Gohil said. In view of all this, he said, he was putting before public these facts of criminal neglect on sensitive issue of national security in public interest.

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