NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has proposed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that it be allowed to operate dedicated Air Courier Service (ACS) routes connecting Delhi with Imphal and Silchar to facilitate the movement of its personnel and official consignments amid increased security deployment in the Northeast.
Official sources said the proposal for dedicated Delhi-Imphal-Delhi and Delhi-Silchar-Delhi services was submitted by CRPF Director General GP Singh to the MHA earlier this year.
The demand comes as the CRPF has strengthened its presence in the region, including through the deployment of additional officers in Manipur. The force's specialised anti-Naxal unit, CoBRA, has also been deployed in the state.
The proposed routes are aimed at providing security personnel with more direct and reliable air connectivity between the national capital and key destinations in the Northeast. The arrangement is being sought on the lines of dedicated regional air connectivity available to security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the MHA has sought a detailed justification for the proposed routes and asked the CRPF whether a gap analysis had been carried out to establish the requirement for additional connectivity, the sources said.
The MHA has also flagged the need to rationalise existing ACS routes to avoid duplication, pointing out that the proposed Delhi-based services could lead some personnel to travel via Delhi rather than Kolkata, they said.
As a result, the MHA has asked the BSF and other concerned authorities to reassess the requirement for existing Kolkata-Imphal-Kolkata and Kolkata-Aizawl-Silchar-Kolkata services in light of the proposed routes.
According to the sources, the CRPF is currently examining the observations and queries raised by the MHA.
If approved, the proposed connectivity could give CRPF personnel greater flexibility in travelling to and from Manipur while ensuring smoother movement of official material. It could also reduce the force's dependence on Kolkata-based air-courier routes and provide an additional Delhi-linked transportation corridor to the Northeast.
The proposal comes amid heightened emphasis on dependable logistics and transportation networks for security forces deployed in the region, where efficient movement of personnel and official consignments remains critical to sustaining operations.
