Babus, armed forces to discuss security of vital installations

An interaction programme among IAS, IPS officers of select states and armed forces personnel will be organised next month on "security of vital installations".
The three-day programme aims to bring together armed force and civilian officers from the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and also from Home and Defence ministries to a common discussion forum.
The states have been requested to depute at least three officers--one each from Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS)-- to participate in the programme, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order.

The programme will be held in Jaipur, Rajasthan during January 7-9.
"The basic objective of the programme is to increase exposure of IAS, IPS, IFoS and other civil services officers to the military, so as to effectively handle unforeseen situations at short notice.
"These mid-career interaction courses are conducted at the tactical and operational level and they are expected to benefit both the armed forces and civil services officers by mutual learning from each other's strength and also by imbibing the best points of each other's work culture, ethos and customs," the DoPT said.
This, in the long run, is expected to help them to combat future challenges to national security in an organised manner, it said.

In case, officers from the all India services are not available, officers belonging to the State Civil Services (SCS) of appropriate seniority, who are working at the cutting-edge level in the districts, may also be considered for nomination to the programme, the DoPT said.