Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said that his government is committed to providing best possible facilities to the central paramilitary forces.
At the foundation laying ceremony of Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS) here Singh said: "The Institute exemplifies our government's commitment to provide the best possible facilities to the Central Armed Police Forces.""...Institute of Medical Sciences will ensure better health care for the families of personnel, who spend much of their time away from home discharging their arduous and onerous responsibilities," the prime minister said. "This will, in turn, lead to higher morale and more efficient functioning of these forces," he added."They are deployed in some of the most difficult places in the country including the left-wing extremism affected states, the north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir," Singh said.
CAPFIMS would be built at a cost of more than Rs. 1,350 crore and will comprise a 500 bedded general hospital, a 300 bedded super specialty hospital, a nursing college and a school of paramedics."It will not only improve the tertiary level health care facilities for the Central Armed Police Forces personnel and their families, but also contribute to an improvement in the other medical facilities available to them by producing doctors, paramedical staff and nurses fully familiar with their requirements."I would expect the institute to be built and to commence functioning in the shortest possible time. I would also like to see it emerge as a centre of excellence in the time to come," added Prime Minister Singh.Talking about the achievements of his government he added that the medical cadre of the Central Forces was revamped in the year 2004."Six old hospitals were upgraded to 100 bedded composite hospitals, and 32 old hospitals to 50 bedded composite hospitals to provide specialty treatment," Singh said.
"One 200 bedded referral hospital is under construction at Noida and is likely to become operational later this year," he added.Singh pointed out that the government had sanctioned 126 additional battalions in these forces, out of which 71 battalions have already been raised and the remaining are expected to be raised within the current financial year."We have also given focused attention to strengthening infrastructure and building capacity. The 12th plan outlay for strengthening infrastructure for Central Armed Police Forces is more than Rs.12,500 crore." the prime minister said.The Central Armed Police Forces now have a strength of over nine lakh personnel.The Border Security Forces, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Sashastra Seema Bal and Assam Rifles guard more than 15,000 km of the international borders and also prevent trans-border crime.The CRPF assists the state governments and the union territories in maintaining law and order and controlling internal disturbances and insurgencies. The CISF provides security cover to more than 300 units located all over India including our atomic power plants, space installations, our airports, mints, currency note presses, oil fields and refineries and major ports.