RoYaL~GuJJaR
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West Bengal may lose NSG hub to Gujarat
NEW DELHI: Unable to find suitable land to set up a 'regional centre' of the National Security Guard (NSG) in West Bengal, the government is exploring the option to establishing it in Gujarat. The centre will house over 5,000 commandos of the counter-terror force for operational and logistics purposes.
Though search of land in West Bengal continues, the central government has, meanwhile, accorded 'in principle' approval to a request made by the Gujarat government to set up a regional centre in the state which will cover the entire western and northern flank of the country.
Kolkata already has an NSG hub which was set up in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Similar hubs were set up Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad as well in the past two years.
Besides the four 'hubs', the government had decided to set up two regional centers - one each in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. While the NSG got a 600-acre plot in Hyderabad for the purpose, it had to contend with only 34.31 acres at Badu, near Kolkata.
"Since the West Bengal regional centre did not turn out as large as it was expected, the centre is now planned in Gujarat. If all goes well, NSG will station 5,150 personnel there. Government may in due course increase the capacity of Kolkata's NSG hub which can cater to the eastern part of the country," an official said.
He said the NSG was scouting for around 600 acres in Gujarat and a final decision would be taken once the force found a suitable base in the state.
The NSG regional centre will have training and combat exercise facilities for the counter-terror and counter-hijack commandos of the force, which at present are only available at its main centre in Manesar in Gurgaon.
The NSG, in absence of the desired land in West Bengal, had also curtailed its plan to induct the sanctioned number of personnel (5,150) as the Kolkata regional centre could only house 460 personnel on the 35-acre plot.
Once the Gujarat regional centre gets the green signal, the NSG will be able to effectively command the western flank of the country which is now being looked after by the Mumbai-based hub.
NSG
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Good step! Gujarat surely need NSG protection as it is one of the most fast growing and economically strong state of India.