CISF’s new role: Security consultant to top schools

New Delhi: The Central Industrial Security Force, which is tasked with protecting airports, ports, the metro and certain vital installations, as well as providing security to various public sector industrial units, has now offered to provide security consultation to leading schools across the country, including some Kendriya Vidyalayas, following the killing of a student at Gurgaon’s Ryan International School recently.

The CISF has written to some educational institutions, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Scindia School, Doon School, DPS and Modern School, saying it was willing to provide its professional expertise to them to help put in place a more secure environment for children. For this, it will charge a service fee of nearly Rs 4 lakhs from each schools, whereas private organisations usually charge a far higher amount. CISF officials said the move had been triggered after the killing of a student at Gurgaon’s Ryan International School, and there was a view within the force that schools too need professional expertise to revamp their security arrangements. Incidentally, the CISF has also approached the Ryan Group of Schools along with others like Rishi Valley in Chitoor, Andhra Pradesh. CISF director-general O.P. Singh claimed the move was part of its wider responsibility to society. In the coming days, the CISF will write similar letters to other leading schools across the country.

In its letter, the CISF said that in view of the recent killing of a student at a school in the NCR region, there was a need to review security arrangements at these institutions. CISF officers claimed the force was best suited to handle security needs and provide professional advice to such schools as it was a professional outfit involved in similar operations. The CISF has undertaken a similar exercise for Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai, and done security audits for leading institutions like the Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian Institutes of Technology.

The CISF has assured the schools that its security inputs would be devised specially for the concerned institution keeping in view their specific requirements. “The move will help provide a robust security platform and fire protection to these schools. At least three schools have already given a positive feedback to us on the offer,” a senior official said.

Once the school agrees to hire the CISF’s services, a team of senior officials and experts will visit the school, carry out a detailed security audit and hand over the final blueprint within a stipulated timeframe — of around three to four months. “The idea is to make the security environment at schools more professional and competent. Our consultancy will also include a fire audit where anti-blaze and counter-fire measures would be suggested,” the official added.