CISF writes to schools, offers security audit

We have written to individual schools and their trusts, informing about the service we can offer. OP SINGH, director general of CISF

NEWDELHI:The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has written to schools across the city offering them consultancy services for a security audit of their campus in the backdrop of the murder of a 7-year-old student at the Ryan International School, Gurgaon.

The force, which is responsible for security of important installations across the country, also offers consultancy services where it inspects the site and suggests measures to improve security.

The CISF has in the past done security audits for IITs and IIMs across the country.

Sources said that prominent schools carry out security audit by private companies, which cost ₹20 lakh, while CISF offers the same service in ₹4-10 lakh.

“We have written to individual schools as well as their trusts, informing about the service we can offer. We would be happy to contribute towards making schools safer. We have been doing it since 1999 and would be happy if schools take our help,” said OP Singh, director general of CISF.

CISF has 130 trained consultants who visit installations and offer suggestion about security. Though many of the schools that HT contacted said that they had not received the letter, they said that an audit by the CISF would be a welcome move. The principals of one of the schools approached by the CISF, said that they had asked a retired CISF official earlier if they would be willing to “look around the campus”.

“They are always welcome. Anybody doing good work would be welcome,” they said.

Manika Sharma, the director of the Shri Ram Schools, said, “We would be more than happy if the CISF would conduct our safety audits. We are quite sound when it come to safety, because we have been doing safety audits for a while at Shri Ram Schools... We usually hire professionals to do the audit. It is a very expensive affair, but it is worth it.”

CISF officials said they had sent the letter on Wednesday. It may have been delivered on Friday or over the weekend.