58,000 personnel to be inducted in CISF over next five years, as Centre expects new industrial hubs in Maoist-affected States 

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the recruitment of 58,000 additional personnel for the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), anticipating future industrial hubs in areas now affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

Home Minister Amit Shah has set a deadline of March 2026 for the security forces to end Maoist activities in Chhattisgarh, one of the worst LWE-affected States.

The geographical spread of LWE violence has reduced substantially in the past decade. The number of districts affected by LWE violence in 2013 stood at 126 in ten States, which had fallen to 38 districts in 2024.

Employment ceiling raised

On July 22, the MHA wrote to inform CISF Director General R.S. Bhatti that the President of India has sanctioned an enhancement in the force’s authorised ceiling strength, from 2 lakh to 2.2 lakh. As the present strength of the CISF is 1.62 lakh, the decision could lead to the recruitment of around 58,000 people.

A CISF official said that around 14,000 personnel will be recruited each year over the next five years. The official said that the new additions would be helpful in the CISF’s deployment across critical sectors such as aviation, sea ports, thermal power plants, nuclear installations, hydro power plants, and jails in Jammu and Kashmir.

“With the decline of Left-Wing Extremism in States such as Chhattisgarh, new industrial hubs are anticipated to emerge, necessitating a stronger CISF presence to provide comprehensive and effective security to these units,” the official said.

The CISF recruited 13,230 personnel in 2024, and the recruitment of another 24,098 is underway during the current year.

Hike in security cover requests

Post-Operation Sindoor, there has been an increase in requests by several organisations, including public sector undertakings (PSUs) and private institutions, for CISF security cover.

“Around 35 requests are under process and requests from around 100 installations are pending. We hope to provide security cover to more properties once the recruitment is done,” the official said.

In the past year, the CISF has been deployed at seven new locations: the Parliament House complex, Ayodhya airport, the National Thermal Power Corporation’s coal mining project in Hazaribagh, the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology in Pune, the Buxar thermal power project, the Jawahar thermal power project in Etah; and the Beas Satluj Link project in Mandi.

The CISF came into existence in 1969 to provide integrated security cover to certain sensitive PSUs, with a strength of only three battalions, or around 3,000 personnel. At present, the CISF provides security cover to 359 establishments.