Union Home Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the 29 Special Composite Group complex of the National Security Guard (NSG) in Kolkata and the force’s residential clusters in Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai.

He said the NSG is a globally recognised counter-terror force. Hailing NSG personnel for fighting terrorism, Shah said, “We have taken measures to make it the best force in the world.”

Genesis of NSG

NSG is a federal contingency force to deal with anti-terrorist activities in all its manifestation. The NSG is specially equipped and trained to deal with specific situations and is, therefore, to be used only in exceptional circumstances to thwart serious acts of terrorism.

The Union Cabinet in 1984 took a decision to create a federal contingency force comprising personnel who are highly motivated, specially equipped and well trained to tackle terror attacks.

In June 1984, a nucleus consisting of the director general of NSG and other essential elements were sanctioned and steps were initiated to raise the force. A Bill for the creation of this organisation was introduced in Parliament in August 1986 and it received the assent of the President on September 22, 1986 and the NSG formally came into being.

The headquarters of the NSG is in Manesar, Haryana.

The basic philosophy of the NSG is swift and speedy strike and immediate withdrawal from the theatre of action.

The NSG was modelled on the pattern of the Special Air Service of the UK and GSG-9 of Germany. It is a task-oriented force and has two complementary elements in the form of the Special Action Group (SAG) comprising Army personnel and the Special Ranger Groups (SRG), comprising personnel drawn from the Central Armed Police Forces / state police forces.

Regional hubs

Following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, regional hubs of the NSG were set up in different zones. The first hub was inaugurated in Mumbai on June 30, 2009. The government later established regional hubs in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Gandhinagar.

Alarmed over the increasing instances of militant activities in Punjab, the Centre is considering a proposal to set up a regional hub of the NSG in the state. A formal plan is under active consideration of the Union home ministry and the Punjab government.

Kolkata hub

The Kolkata hub, hitherto functioning from the Kolkata airport, is the fourth to have permanent infrastructure after Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.

This state-of-the-art regional hub complex at Kolkata, built at a cost of Rs 162 crore, will have residential and non-residential complexes to house 460 persons and families, office accommodation and modern training facilities such as baffle firing range, indoor shooting range, obstacles, swimming pool, sports complex and artificial rock craft wall, etc.

The area of responsibility of this hub comprises West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and the entire Northeast.

This latest NSG complex has become a model regional hub, which will help in honing the professional acumen of NSG commandos and also contribute significantly in capacity building of the first responders - the police forces of the states.

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