Govt. asks private airlines to give planes for hijack drills

The Union home ministry has told private airlines in the country to regularly provide their aircraft to the National Security Guard (NSG) for anti-hijacking drills that force regularly conducts.

The issue came up during a review of the elite counter terror and anti-hijacking commando force’s working by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

“It is beneficial for the private airlines if the NSG remains familiar with all kinds of planes used by them. The issue is by and large settled,” said a senior home ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

So far, mostly planes of government owned airlines were used by the NSG.

The ministry has also asked the Border Security Force (BSF), which has its own air wing, to provide a chopper to the NSG. The NSG urgently needs a helicopter. The chopper may be given from the existing fleet of the BSF or from the Indian Air Force, the official said.