NEW DELHI: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) restored items worth Rs 34 crore lost or left behind by passengers at the country’s airports as well at the Delhi Metro stations protected by it, between 2018 and 2020. Also, the force’s fire-protection wing saved property worth Rs 302.53 crore from damage in around 260 fire incidents during 2020.
Sharing these statistics in his address at the force’s raising day event held at Indirapuram, Ghaziabad on Wednesday, CISF DG Subodh Kumar Jaiswal said CISF was one Central para-military force that has a large public interface due to its deployment at the country’s 64 airports and at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation properties.
He added that CISF had not only amply displayed its ability to handle this role well but also gone beyond the call of duty to restore lost items including cash and valuables to the passengers and also saved few lives by offering timely medical assistance in the form of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during health emergencies at airports and metro stations.
Home secretary and chief guest for the event, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, noted that very few complaints were received against CISF personnel serving at airports and metro stations despite their large public interface. “The number of complaints received have been negligible. Even some of the complaints that were received were from vested interests,” he pointed out in his address at the raising day function.
Bhalla particularly praised the CISF personnel for performing their duties well during the pandemic by reaching out to people during Covid lockdown. CISF personnel had played a frontline role by attending to the people in need of food, shelter and hospitalisation.
CISF, which has completed 52 years of securing the sensitive and critical infrastructure of the country, now comprises over 1.63 lakh personnel who protect over 350 installations of national importance. CISF is the only Central armed police force having its fire service and providing fire protection to 104 installations.