Indian Coast Guard Day: History, significance and all you could know

New Delhi: Indian Coast Guard Day is noticed yearly on February 1 in honour of organisations from each nation that take care of maritime safety and likewise the wants of the nation. This yr, India will mark the forty seventh Indian Coast Guard Day. The warriors of the Coast Guard play an important function throughout pandemics and pure disasters. They act as frontline warriors and put their lives in danger with out giving it a second thought in an effort to save lots of the lives of individuals in want. The warriors are engaged within the preservation and help of fishers and mariners and lengthen assist to the Department of Law Enforcement companies in tackling smuggling actions.

History of Indian Coast Guard

Following the sea-borne smuggling of products within the Sixties, the Indian Navy got here up with a proposal for the institution of the Indian Coast Guard to offer non-military maritime providers to the nation.

With the participation of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, the Nagchaudhuri committee was constituted to review the issue. Later in August 1971, the committee recognized the requirement to patrol India’s huge shoreline, arrange a registry of offshore fishing vessels to determine criminality and set up a succesful and well-equipped drive to intercept vessels engaged in unlawful actions.

In September 1974, the Indian cupboard arrange the Rustamji Committee, underneath the chairmanship of Khusro Faramurz Rustamji, to look at gaps in safety and legislation enforcement between the roles of the Indian Navy and the central and state police forces. The committee submitted its advice for the institution of the Indian Coast Guard underneath the Ministry of Defence on July 31, 1975.

Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi overruled the Cabinet Secretary and determined to just accept the Rustamji Committee’s authentic advice to determine the service underneath the Ministry of Defence. As a outcome, an interim Indian Coast Guard got here into existence on February 1, 1977, geared up with two small corvettes and 5 patrol boats transferred from the Navy.

Why have a good time this present day on February 1

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is an armed drive of the Union of India and capabilities underneath the Ministry of Defence. The physique was formally established on February 1, 1977, by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India. It is in control of making certain the safety of India’s maritime zones to guard maritime and different nationwide pursuits in such zones, in addition to issues associated to such zones. The warriors work in shut cooperation with the Department of Fisheries, the Indian Navy, the Department of Revenue (Customs), the Central Armed Police Forces, and the State Police Services.

Functioning of the Indian Coast Guard

Despite being comparatively small, the Indian Coast Guard has a variety of activity capabilities for each floor and air operations they usually conduct round-the-year real-life operations at sea. The organisation is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG), who workouts his total command and superintendence from the Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ) located in New Delhi. He receives correct help from 4 Deputy Director Generals of the rank of Inspector General, and different senior officers heading numerous employees divisions.

For efficient command and management, the Maritime Zones of India are divided into 5 Coast Guard areas, particularly, North-West, West, East, North-East and Andaman and Nicobar. All the divisions have their respective regional headquarters situated at Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair.