NSG military operations post headless for 6 months

The National Security Guards (NSG) is functioning without a regular military operations commander for the past six months, prompting the elite counter-terrorism force to approach the government to intervene and get an Army officer soon.

The absence of the Operations Commander has been flagged by the NSG as it could adversely hamper its combat readiness and handling of emergencies.

The NSG now wants the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to intervene and get Army to depute an officer as early as possible for the post of Inspector General (Operations), which is held by a Major General-rank officer.

Sources said the MHA has taken up the issue with Ministry of Defence and the appointment may be done within two months.

Since April, this post has been lying vacant after Maj Gen Shashank Mishra moved to his cadre on promotion. An Inspector General is presently holding additional charge of the post.

The post of IG (Operations) is very important in the NSG as the counter-terror and counter-hijack commando units are placed under his overall command.

While government sources said non-availability of suitable Army officers has been the primary reason for not being able to fill the post, NSG officials are saying the need of the hour is to fill the post. "An Army officer has to be the in-charge. It will hamper the functioning of NSG if it is not filled as early as possible," they said.

The IG (Operations) is key to the structure as he analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the counter-terror and counter-hijack teams in consultation with the Force Commander. He leads the on-ground planning and execution of operations when the commandos are deployed.

Another reason for bringing in an Army man as IG (Operations) is that the personnel in these two groups are soldiers from the Special Forces and infantry of the Indian Army.