Parliament passes Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019

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The Parliament has passed the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019 with the Rajya Sabha approving it today. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.

The proposed amendments in the SPG bill will provide security to Prime Minister and members of his immediate family residing with him at his official residence. It will also provide security for a period of five years to former Prime Ministers and his immediate family members residing with him at the residence allotted to him. The Bill says that when the proximate security is withdrawn from a former Prime Minister such proximate security will also stand withdrawn from members of their immediate family. 

Replying to the discussion, Home Minister Amit Shah said, the question of political vendetta does not arise in bringing the amendment as the SPG cover is meant only for the physical and communication security of the Prime Minister. He clarified that adequate security for the Gandhi family has been provided though the SPG cover has been withdrawn even before bringing the amendment based on the assessment of the threat perception. He said after five years, if Mr. Narendra Modi will not be Prime Minister of this country, he will also be taken out of the purview of the SPG cover. The Minister said, the SPG cover cannot go on endlessly for a particular family in a democracy. He said, he is not against any specific family but only against any family rule. On the structure of the SPG, Mr. Shah said, the personnel of the elite force consist of those originally from the other security agencies like CRPF, BSF, SSB, State police forces and others who will be repatriated to their parent forces after a tenure of five years. He said, Z plus security is also a round a clock security mechanism.

Later, not satisfied with the Minister’s reply, Opposition including the Congress, DMK and the Left Parties staged the walk-out.

Earlier, initiating the discussion, Vivek Tanka of Congress criticized the move saying politics is being played in a sensitive matter like security. He said, this was not an ordinary act and it was brought after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He said, latest amendments have been brought only to exclude a single family from the ambit of the act. He questioned, if any untoward incident happens in the future with this family, who will take responsibility. 

Manas Ranjan Bhunia of TMC said, before amending the Act it must be kept in mind that Nehru-Gandhi family has lost two members in terror attacks. Ram Gopal Yadav of Samajwadi Party said, any security cover should be based on the threat perception adding it should not be viewed as a status symbol. CPI(M)’s K.K. Ragesh opposed the bill saying it is politically motivated. P. Wilson of DMK said, withdrawal of SPG cover to the Gandhi family on grounds of cash saving as mentioned by the government, cannot be accepted. Sanjay Singh of Aam Adami Party said, enhanced security for the Prime Minister is a welcome move but the security of others should also not be compromised. Satish Chandra Mishra of BSP also said that security should be commensurate with the threat perception.

On the other hand, Neeraj Shekhar of BJP supported the bill saying that SPG security must be provided only to the Prime Minister and different security forces must be created to provide security to the former Prime Ministers. He said this government is committed to abolish the VIP culture from this country and Home Minister has already assured that proper security will be provided to the Gandhi family. RCP Singh of JDU and Prasanna Acharya of BJD also supported the bill. Other members including GVL Narshima Rao of BJP, Naresh Gujrat of SAD, Binoy Vishwam of CPI and Manoj Jha of RJD also participated in the discussion.