My security is Z+, what’s yours?

Mayawati’s men might be holding up Parliament over reports of her security being scaled down. But the fact remains that for most VIPs in Uttar Pradesh, security is more a status symbol and rarely guided by any rational security threat.

What else can explain the deployment of over 3,500 police personnel to guard over 2,500 such VIPs in a state that has, perhaps, the lowest per capita policing — 25 armed cops for 1 lakh people. Mayawati herself has said that UP needs at least 1 lakh policemen urgently.

Mayawati has ‘Z plus’ security, and her government spends a whopping Rs8 to 10 crore a month on 115 protectees who boast of classified security — divided into X, Y, Z and Z plus categories. At least 2,000 men guard these VIPs round the clock.

Apart from the CM and the governor, there are seven more ‘Z plus’ protectees in UP — former CMs Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajnath Singh, Kalyan Singh and Ram Naresh Yadav, BJP leader MM Joshi and Vinay Katiyar, and VHP leader Ashok Singhal.

Another 2,000-odd protectees strut around with one or more armed PSOs (personal security officers). These are known as shadows (in civvies) or gunners (uniformed). This includes MPs, MLAs, ministers, ex-ministers and a host of other dubious characters, like contractors, student leaders and political workers, many of them with impressive criminal records.

Though officials are tight-lipped about this “very sensitive matter” and offer no leads on the total expenditure on VIP security, a retired DGP, not wanting to be named, says the figure would be no less than a whopping Rs200 crore annually. “This, in a state where the per capita income is about Rs1,200 a month,” he said.

The ruckus over Mayawati’s security, a senior official explained, is not about scaling it down but about withdrawing National Security Guard (NSG) ‘Black Cat’ commandos. He says her “Z plus” cover would continue as the CM and governor are entitled to it. “NSG cover is provided additionally in special circumstances. It’s not part of the ‘Z plus’ protocol,” he said.

“NSG is an anti-terrorist organisation and as a matter of principle its commandos should not be used for personal security of politicians or VIPs,” says former UP police chief Haridas Rao. “CMs who have a special requirement of commando security should raise their own commando forces trained by NSG or SPG, like Andhra Padesh did,” he said.

A senior official pointed out that UP has its own ‘Cobra’ commandos. “But perhaps the VIPs with ‘Z plus’ security feel it is below their dignity to be seen with them,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s more of a status symbol than anything else.”