Anti-national forces can’t appreciate economic trends: Rajnath

Chennai, Oct 9 (IANS) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday described India as one of the fastest emerging economies and said certain "anti-national forces" were not able to appreciate the visible economic progress.

Addressing the passing out parade of CISF probationers at Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu, he also said that cyber terrorism was a major threat and urged the CISF to upgrade and technologically advance itself to counter this.

"India is one of the fastest emerging economies of the world but certain anti-India forces are not able to appreciate these visible economic trends," Singh said in an apparent dig at those criticising the state of economy under the NDA regime.

He said the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) needed to maintain its core competence against terrorism so that the country's top strategic installations were not hit by any terror group.

"The CISF should conduct regular security audits of all important buildings and installations. A specialised wing in the CISF should be created to conduct regular cyber security audits and build capacities to deal with cyber terrorism.

"The CISF headquarters should strengthen its security mechanism based on these audit reports and also by adopting new technological solutions."

The Minister described cyber terrorism as a major threat that several countries were facing.

"The cyber terrorists use digital tracks to attack important institutions, buildings and installations. The CISF needs to upgrade and technologically advance itself to face and counter any incident of cyber terrorism," he said.

Stressing that CISF had the largest number of women among the central armed forces, Singh said he was confident it will be the first force to achieve 33 per cent reservation target for women.

He said the role of the CISF had been further diversified and expanded with rapid increase in globalisation and liberalisation.

"CISF's role is multi-dimensional and extremely challenging. In spite of the challenges, CISF jawans and officers perform their duties with a smile," he said.

Congratulating the officers and personnel for President's police medal for their distinguished and meritorious services, Singh urged them to prepare themselves to effectively meet the emerging challenges posed by new forms of terrorism, insurgency and stressed upon the growing role of CISF in the changing security scenario.

He also hailed the officers and trainers of CISF for their excellent performance in imparting training. "They joined as boys, passing out as soldiers," he said.

The CISF came into existence in 1969 and has become a premier multi-skilled security agency of the country, mandated to provide security to major critical infrastructure installations of the country in diverse areas.