CISF men at airport move court, want to live with families

NEW DELHI: Tasked to secure the country’s most sensitive airport, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is busy fighting a legal battle against its own staff.

About 200 personnel posted at the Delhi airport have moved court, demanding they should be allowed to live separately with their families, sources said.

Only 45% of the staff can avail the house rent allowance (HRA) and the rest have to live in the barracks near the airport.

“The staff has given educational grounds and health problems as reasons to live away from airport. We want the staff to stay focused and for that we are ready to change rules by allowing more staff to stay with families,” said a senior CISF official.

The reason behind keeping the staff at the barracks is to use them quickly in case of an emergency. “The condition of the barracks is not good and the staff wants to live with their family members. Most of them are ready to live at their own expense,” the official added.

“If the ministry of home affairs allows us to give HRA to all the employees, we can ask the staff to stay wherever they want and come to duty on time. Security of the airport will not be compromised as we will have a striking reserve force of 400 personnel in the barracks,” he said.

CISF officials said the problem of transportation will be solved with that as the staff will be asked to come on their own.

“The rules were framed keeping in mind that staff should live near the installation they are providing security to. But people want to live at better places and with their family... Satisfaction of staff matters a lot,” the official said.

The CISF has requested the airport operator to construct residential complexes for the staff. About 5,000 personnel are posted for the security of the airport and the number is likely to increase in the coming days.