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He was speaking during a visit to the National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district.
The academy, located near the coastal town of Okha and run by the Border Security Force (BSF), was conceptualised in 2018 as the country’s first school to train police and paramilitary forces personnel in various aspects of coastal security.
The home minister appreciated the efforts taken by the BSF Gujarat Frontier and NACP to establish the institution in an area with adverse weather conditions and geographical challenges, the BSF said in a release.
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He expressed confidence that in future the academy would provide intensive and high-level training to the marine police of various coastal states in the country and make a significant contribution to the security of coastal areas.
Gujarat BSF’s Inspector General G S Malik informed the home minister that 427 personnel from nine coastal states, including Gujarat and Maharashtra, and four Union Territories along with officers of the Customs, BSF and CISF have been given training at the academy in the last six months.
Talking to the media, BSF Director General Pankaj Kumar Singh said the government has set itself a target of imparting training to 3,000 personnel in one year.
The BSF’s water wing operates nearly 450 vessels in the country and has an experience of 40 years in coastal security, he said.
Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the state, offered prayers at the famous Dwarkadheesh Temple in Dwarka town earlier in the day. He will accompany the prime minister at `Sahkar Sammelan’, a conclave of the cooperative sector, in Gandhinagar in the evening.