Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of the permanent campus of National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) at Dwarka, Gujarat, to be built at a cost of Rs. 470 crore

Mumbai: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah today laid the foundation stone of the permanent campus of National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) at Dwarka, Gujarat, to be built at a cost of Rs. 470 crore. Several dignitaries including Union Home Secretary and Director General of Border Security Force were present on the occasion.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the work of National Coastal Police Academy has been started today on more than 450 acres of land in order to further strengthen coastal security. He said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the security of the country and the country’s borders has been strengthened and the citizens of the country feel safe. Shri Shah said that in order to strengthen the border security, it is necessary that the living and working facilities of our border guards improve, they get state-of-the-art equipment and taking care of the health of their family members. He said that the central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has left no stone unturned in these three areas and has tried to provide all kinds of facilities and state of art equipment to our security forces.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that recently the Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), with the help of India’s intelligence agencies, have seized drugs worth Rs. 12,000 crores off the coast of Kerala. He said that while drugs worth Rs. 680 crores were seized during the 10-year rule of the previous government, but Indian security agencies have seized drugs worth Rs 12,000 crore in a single consignment now, showcasing the preparedness of our agencies.

Shri Amit Shah said that today is the death anniversary of Shri Bipin Chandra Pal, one of the greatest freedom fighters among the Lal-Bal-Pal. Today is also the birth anniversary of Martyr Piru Singh, awarded with the Param Vir Chakra. Shri Piru Singh showcased immense bravery and protected the country without caring for his life. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also named an island in Andaman and Nicobar as Shaheed Piru Singh Island in the memory of the martyr.

Union Home Minister said if the borders of a country are not secure, there is no meaning of development. He said that a country can remain secure only through foolproof security of its borders. Shri Shah said that India has 15,000 km long land border and 7,516 km long sea border. He said that out of 7,516 km long maritime border, 5,422 km is the mainland border and over 2,000 km is the border of the islands. There are 1,382 islands, 3,337 coastal villages, 11 major ports, 241 non-major ports, and 135 establishments including those of space, defense, atomic energy, petroleum, shipping etc. He said that earlier there was no special training system for all these security personnel, but after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the need for coherent response from jawans at every coastal police station, border security and Coast Guard was felt. Shri Shah said that this is possible only when the training for coastal security is arranged in a planned manner. He said that in 2018, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the National Coastal Police Academy and it was decided to establish it in the city of Lord Shri Krishna. He said that Dwarka means the gateway of the country and at that time Lord Shri Krishna came to this place from Mathura and built a big trade center across our sea border. Today, with the imagination of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the training for the coastal security of the entire nation is being provided in Okha, the land of Lord Shri Krishna.

Shri Amit Shah said that the total number of Coastal Police personnel in the entire country is around 12,000 and once this academy becomes fully operational, there will be arrangement for training of 3,000 people in an year. In this way, within 4 years, 100% training of all the personnel involved in the coastal security of India will be completed. He said that because of the vision and determination of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, an important task of ensuring coastal security is being initiated today.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that with about 56 crores cost, five different BSF company outposts and one observation post tower of 18th Corps were inaugurated today and our vigilant guards posted on the border will be able to live here with convenience and ensure the security of the country. He said that the people of the country sleep peacefully and consider the country safe because the BSF is deployed on the border. Shri Shah said that BSF has glorious history and till the last drop of their blood was shed, BSF jawans have fought bravely for every inch of the country’s land. He said that on many occasions when the army takes over during the war, the BSF has to go back but there are many such occasions when the BSF jawans did not think it appropriate to go back, and they fought the enemies shoulder to shoulder with the army. Shri Shah said that this heroic story of BSF is known to every child of the country.

Shri Amit Shah said that a policy of maritime security has been adopted by the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to make the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Marine Police, Customs and fishermen a complete Sudarshan Chakra of security ring for India. He said that in the open sea, security is provided by the ships and aircraft of the Indian Navy. The security is handled by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard in the middle seas, and in the territorial waters by the water wing of the BSF, whereas the patriotic fishermen in the village ensure the country’s security by acting as a channel of information. Shri Shah said that on all these dimensions, the Government of India has adopted a well-coordinated Coastal Security Policy and has worked to secure the country’s coasts through an integrated approach. He said that our country has suffered many consequences due to negligence in coastal security. No patriotic citizen can forget the 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 innocent lives were lost due to a slight mistake. He said that after the policy of coastal security developed by the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi if the enemy tries to carry out such incidents, he will get a befitting reply from here. Shri Shah said that this training is very important for this.

Union Home Minister said that this coastal security policy is based on several pillars. It includes coordination and communication in the matter of coastal security and intelligence, joint coastal patrols by setting protocols for patrolling at fixed time intervals, security of fishermen, giving more than 10 lakh Aadhaar cards with QR codes to fishermen, ensuring security arrangements at 1537 fish leading points and security at all fishing harbors built for Blue Economy. He said that by adding all these things an impregnable fort for coastal security has been established by the government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Shri Amit Shah said that during the tenure of the previous government, Porbandar Jail had to be closed after issuing a notification and Porbandar had become the center of all kinds of thefts. He said that ever since the government led by Shri Narendra Modi came, the jail started again and the thieves fled from here. He said that Shri Narendra Modi secured Gujarat, be it the land border of Kutch, Sir Creek, Haraminala or the sea coast of Porbandar, or the sea coast of Dwarka-Okha-Jamnagar-Salaya. Shri Shah said that today by keeping all the state governments together Shri Narendra Modi, as the Prime Minister of the country, has established this training academy here to secure the country’s sea coasts.