SPG, NSG adopt arm’s-length policy amid COVID-19

NEW DELHI: With the VIP political protectees now stepping out or planning to do so, the protection units of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and National Security Guards (NSG) are factoring in the Covid-19 situation in their duties to maintain safety standards.
This includes the elite commandos using masks and sanitisers for hand hygiene, regular temperature checks before they report for duties for the day and sanitising their personal gear, arms, equipment and vehicles after every shift. Commandoes will have to take extra care while staying in their residential quarters and ensure more spacing between themselves in their security duties to get as close to the “do gaj doori” concept as possible, senior government officials told ET. While the SPG guards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NSG guards a host of VIPs such as defence minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

“The coronavirus situation has to be factored in…we are focussing on the health and well-being of our men. Certain units, like the one for VIP protection duties, are being firewalled very deliberately and strictly from each other. This internal compartmentalisation has been done across the organisation to avoid any spread of infection at the workplace,” said NSG director general AK Singh. He said the commandos have been briefed and a close watch is also being kept for their well-being. “A very strong protocol has been put in place for sanitising their gear, arms, equipment and vehicles after each shift as adequate safeguards,” Singh said.

Most of these protective gears are shared among the teams of commandos, making regular sanitisation imperative, said another senior official, adding how the SPG is also working “extra hard” to take special care in view of the coronavirus situation. This includes SPG commandos taking precautions while staying in their residential quarters too, apart from wearing masks and using hand sanitisers. A crucial issue is maintaining more distance between the commandos as well the protectee without compromising on the protection of the VIP, said another official. “The nature of protection already allowed a comfortable distance,” said the official.

For these units, the key is to also keep the VIP Security Unit insulated from the rest of the units of the force. “Come what may, we do not want our operational capability to be compromised in any way in case of an infection,” a senior official told ET. “So far, VIP protectees like Modi and NSG protectees were not venturing out due to lockdown but with movement expected from them in public space, the challenge for VIP protection forces increases,” the official said.