Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan's security cover scaled down to Z category

The Centre on Friday decided to scale down the armed security cover provided to Gursharan Kaur, wife of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, following a review. According to a PTI report, the wife of the late PM will now be covered under the Z category, which is the second-highest level of protection.

 

Until now, Kaur was covered under the top Z-plus category central security protection by virtue of being the immediate family member of a former prime minister.

 

Under the Z category, 87-year-old Kaur will have the protection of about a dozen armed commandos for her personal safety as well as for her home, the PTI report stated.

 

The report further stated that the change in categorisation of security has also led to a reduction in the number of Delhi Police personnel sanctioned for Singh's immediate family members.

 

Notably, the decision regarding the security cover of former PMs is taken by the Union home ministry. The VIP security cover under the central protection list begins from the highest Z-plus (ASL) to Z-plus, Z, Y, Y-plus and X.

 

A Congress party stalwart, Singh served as PM for two consecutive terms from 2004–14 and was largely credited with the 1991 economic reforms when he was finance minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government. Singh died at the age of 92 on December 26, 2024.