IISSM-2009 : An ideal platform for safety &  security industry

An amazing Conference! So well organised! What intellectual content! Really enjoyed,” so observed a veteran security professional. According to a first-timer, “I would like to come again and again to attend such a Seminar,” once again proving that IISSM Seminars have always a large quotient of repeaters. Joining the inaugural session in the absence of the Union Home Secretary, who could not make it at the eleventh hour, Mr. Deepti Vilash, Joint Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, observed, “Terrorists of today having acquired high profile technology status, a paradigm shift was necessary in our attitude to tackle this menace. Security has to be a continuous affair and an ongoing activity and not an item in the budget only.” Lamenting that the Indian system lacked the culture of working with private agencies, Mr. K.V.S.S. Prasada Rao, Chairman, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Government of India, in his valedictory address stressed, “All of us would have to now work together and there was no escape from this reality.”

                So had begun and ended the 4-day long XIXth Annual International Seminar of IISSM (December 8-11, 2009) at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. Mr. K.P. Medhekar, IPS (Retd.), Chairman Emeritus of IISSM, had inaugurated the event. Mr. R. Swaminathan, IPS (Retd.), Chairman, IISSM, had welcomed the participants, and Mr. R.K. Sinha, Executive Chairman, IISSM, formally introduced IISSM and its activities. Mr. N.R. Das, (IPS), Director General, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Government of India, was the Guest of Honour on the occasion. A distinctive feature of this year’s Seminar was high level international focus. A two-member delegation from the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO), Geneva, headed by its Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Evgeny Vasiliev, Dy. Secretary-General, International Civil Defence tion, Geneva, and a trade delegation led by Dr. Christian Ehler, Member of European Parliament, who was accompanied by Mr. Christoph Stroschein, Chief Executive, German European Security Association, interacted with the delegates in the post-lunch session of the second and third day of the Seminar respectively. The ICDO delegation expressed the faith and belief that there would be scope for future collaboration with India in the field of civil defence work. Mr. R.K. Bhatia, IPS, Director General, National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence, Government of India, had presided over this session. Dr. Christian Ehler and Mr. Christoph Stroschein indicated a broad outline for technological collaboration under the aegis of Europe India Chamber of Commerce.  Apart from Indian security equipment manufacturers and scientists, a senior representative from the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India had joined the deliberations. Dr. Ehler had also interacted with senior representatives from Tata Consultancy Services Limited, and HCL. Mr. Raj Lakha, Executive President (International Affairs), IISSM, based in UK, was the principal interlocutor on behalf of the IISSM with the Europe India Chamber of Commerce.  Mrs. Hansa Kaul Dhar, Administrator – Membership, International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM), UK, has also joined and made a brief presentation. The business session of the Seminar started with bang. It was a panel discussion on: “Role of Private Security Agencies in Counter Terrorism,” in which senior players in the field of private security, such as, Mr. R.K. Sinha, Chairman, Security Skills Council of India (SSC), Mr. C. Pal Singh, representing Asian Professional Security Association – India Chapter, and Mr. G.B. Singh, Chairman, ASIS International New Delhi India Chapter # 207, exchanged thoughts, backed by an examination of the legal aspects of the problem by an eminent lawyer of the Supreme Court of India, namely, Mr. Dipak Bhattacharyya. Mr. Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, Central Association for Private Security Industry, could not make it at the last moment.