Govt committed to provide best facilities to forces: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the government is committed to providing the best possible facilities to the Central Armed Police Forces personnel who are serving the nation in very adverse conditions, risking their lives.

After laying the foundation stone for the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS), Singh said men and women of these Forces -- CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, Assam Rifles and NSG -- work in very adverse conditions, often at considerable risk to their lives.

"The Institute exemplifies our Government's commitment to provide the best possible facilities to the Central Armed Police Forces," he said here.

The Central Armed Police Forces personnel are deployed in some of the most difficult places in the country including the Left-Wing Extremism affected States, the North-Eastern States and Jammu and Kashmir.

"Today marks a very important step forward towards the establishment of the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS). It is a matter of great happiness for all of us that this project has finally reached the implementation stage," the Prime Minister said.

Singh said the CAPFIMS will serve a long-felt need. It will ensure better health care for the families of the Central Armed Police Forces personnel, who spend much of their time away from home discharging their arduous and onerous responsibilities.

"This will, in turn, lead to higher morale and more efficient functioning of these Forces," he said.

Singh said the Central Government had sanctioned 126 additional battalions in these Forces, out of which 71 battalions have already been raised and the remaining are expected to be raised within the current financial year.

"We have also given focused attention to strengthening infrastructure and building capacity. The 12th Plan outlay for strengthening infrastructure for Central Armed Police Forces is more than Rs 12,500 crore. Since the year 2008, 24 new training institutes have been sanctioned for these Forces," he said.

The Prime Minister said his Government has made sustained efforts to improve healthcare facilities and expand the coverage and extent of medical cover to the Force personnel and their families.

The medical cadre of the Central Forces was revamped in the year 2004, so as to provide the basic minimum healthcare facilities to the Forces' personnel and their families even in remote postings.

Six old hospitals were upgraded to 100 bedded Composite Hospitals, and 32 old hospitals to 50 bedded Composite Hospitals to provide speciality treatment. One 200 bedded Referral Hospital is under construction at Noida and is likely to become operational later this year.

This Institute will be built at a cost of more than Rs 1,350 crore and will comprise a 500 bedded General Hospital, a 300 bedded Super Speciality Hospital, a Nursing College and a School of Paramedics.

It will not only improve the tertiary level health care facilities for the Central Armed Police Forces personnel and their families, but also contribute to an improvement in the other medical facilities available to them by producing doctors, paramedical staff and nurses fully familiar with their requirements.

"I would expect the CAPFIMS to be built and to commence functioning in the shortest possible time. I would also like to see it emerge as a centre of excellence in the time to come. Our Central Armed Police Forces deserve no less," he said, adding, "We are all grateful for the services the Central Armed Police Forces have provided to our nation".

The BSF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles guard more than 15,000 kilometres of our International Borders and the Line of Control (LoC) along Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar and also prevent trans-border crime. The CRPF assists the state governments and the Union Territories in maintaining law and order and controlling internal disturbances and insurgencies.

The CISF provides security cover to more than 300 units located all over India including our atomic power plants, space installations, our airports, mints, currency note presses, oil fields and refineries and major ports. The Central Armed Police Forces now have a combined strength of over 9 lakh personnel.