The Union Home Ministry has sought immediate deployment of an armed contingent of the CISF to secure the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) that will host special events and an exhibition for the spouses and other family members of the dignitaries visiting the national capital here later this week for the G20 Leaders' Summit.
The NGMA, under the Union Culture Ministry, is the country's premier art institution for modern and contemporary Indian art and is spread over eight acres along the India Gate hexagon in the heart of the national capital.
Its vast collection of art is displayed across multiple gallery floors, an art shop, auditorium, preview theatre and library. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has been directed to immediately deploy an armed contingent on a short-term basis for securing the facility in view of the VVIP movement at the art complex during the G20 Leaders' Summit on September 9-10, a senior Union Home Ministry official said.
The NGMA currently has private security personnel to secure it and this CISF cover is expected to be regularised after this initial deployment being done in view of the G20 meeting, they said.
The CISF, a Central paramilitary or Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) under the Home Ministry is the designated Force for securing vital installations and has expertise in the art and culture domain as it has been guarding the National Museum in Delhi and the Indian Museum in Kolkata for a very long time now, another official said. Officials said a special exhibition — Roots and Routes: Past, Present and Continuous — is being curated at the Jaipur House in NGMA by the Culture Ministry to coincide with the G20 Summit under India's presidency.
A number of artefacts, sculptures and miniatures are being brought from various museums in the country to be displayed at NGMA for this exhibition.
Keeping in mind the security of these valuables and the protection of the visiting foreign dignitaries, it was decided that a professional security cover of the CISF should be accorded to the facility, the officials said.