The Hindu Business Line : ‘Each metro must have its own NSG commando’

Mumbai, Nov. 29 Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation, on the terror attacks in Mumbai and the need for increased investment in security by both government and industry:

“What we have to understand is that we were certainly unprepared for this type of disaster. For a country of one billion people we need National Security Guards not just in one city. Each metro must have its own NSG commandos; attacks have after all happened in Bangalore, Delhi and Ahmedabad earlier.

“Intelligence has to increase. This kind of scale of operations are under planning for over 6 to eight months. If you crack this you can prevent it.

“The Taj had been barricaded for a month around Diwali time. Obviously they must have got some information or perhaps felt what happened at the Marriot in Pakistan might be repeated here. But these barricades were removed later on.

“All establishments will have to increase security measures, making it more expensive, more irritating, more time consuming for people, but there is no alternative.

“Of course you cannot prevent these things even if everything else is done. But the crux is intelligence. If it is true that some of the attackers were able to infiltrate the housekeeping section (at these establishments that were attacked), intelligence must be able to infiltrate and find out that too.

“It is the responsibility of the state to provide security to foreigners, trade and business, and at police stations, hospitals and other public places. They must invest more in our security forces who need to be highly qualified and be provided with better amenities.

“And we need resilience. By that I don’t mean forgetting what has happened but learning lessons from what has happened. And act. Talk less and act more. In every sector, we Indians talk too much but act little.”