National Gallery of Modern Art gets CISF cover for G20 exhibition, visit of dignitaries

The Union home ministry has ordered 'immediate' deployment of an armed contingent of the CISF to guard the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) that will host special events and an exhibition for the spouses and other family members of the dignitaries arriving later this week for the G20 Leaders' Summit here, official sources said.

The NGMA, under the Union ministry of culture, is the country's premier art institution for modern and contemporary Indian art and is spread over eight acres along the India Gate hexagon in the heart of the national capital.

Its vast collection of art is displayed across multiple gallery floors, an art shop, auditorium, preview theatre and library.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has been directed to immediately deploy a contingent for providing armed security cover to the facility in view of the VVIP activities expected there during the G20 Leaders' Summit on September 9-10, a senior Union home ministry officer told PTI.

The facility currently has private security personnel to secure it and this CISF cover is expected to be regularised after this initial deployment being done in view of the G20 meeting. The CISF, a central armed police force (CAPF) under the home ministry, has expertise in the field of securing vital installations in the art and culture domain as it has been guarding the National Museum in Delhi and the Indian Museum in Kolkata for a very long time now, another officer said.

Officials said a special exhibition -- Roots and Routes: Past, Present and Continuous -- is being curated at the Jaipur House in NGMA by the culture ministry to coincide with the G20 Summit under India's presidency.

For this exhibition, a number of artefacts, sculptures and miniatures are being brought from various museums in the country to be displayed at NGMA.

Keeping in mind the security of these valuables and the protection of the visiting foreign dignitaries, it was decided that a professional security cover of the CISF should be accorded to the facility, the officials said.

The spouses and other family members of the dignitaries will also be treated to a special millets lunch at the facility during the two-day Summit, they said.

A team of about 50 armed and commando trained CISF men and women will provide professional security to the facility as they will regulate the entry and exit at the facility, check the visitors and their belongings.

They will be backed by a quick reaction team (QRT) that will respond in case of a major threat or sabotage like incident, the officials said.

The force will be provided with door frame metal detectors, hand-held scanners and X-ray baggage machines to render this task, they said.