Black cats for VIPs at Aam Aadmi's expense?

Keep the elite national security guards strictly for fighting terror, that's the message from the people a day after NDTV's exclusive story on scaling down VIP security.

"The money can be used to make our intelligence agencies more equipped and efficient. The VIP is after all a lay man himself if not elected by this lay man," said a man on the street.

"They can spend on the politicians, but not so much. It's a waste of money for them. More money should be spent on public," said a man from Hyderabad.

Why is a VIP's life more important than ours?

That's the question people around the country are asking a day after NDTV reported that the NSG elite force wants most of its commandos withdrawn from VIP security and re-deploy the commandos for anti-terror operations what they were originally intended for.

No more black cats?

The proposal is to take away NSG cover from politicians like Mayawati, Mulayam, Paswan, Murli Monohar Joshi and replace them with para-military and state police without reducing the number of people guarding them.

The government has recently started four NSG hubs in which it has deployed about 250 commandos in each hub, but NSG will need another 10,000 commandos.

So, to make up for the shortfall till the new battalions are trained, the NSG commandos need to be shifted from VIP security to fight terror.

The politicians however, are predictably upset. But on Friday a voice of support came.

"Security is a status symbol for many. It should only be given to those who have a genuine threat perception. But unfortunately, in our country, security is given at face value. It is unfortunate that a former Chief Minister has more security considerations than a present Chief Minister," said Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar.

Apart from this, the government plans to review the list of 430 people who currently get security from the government.

At an average, between the Centre and the State, the government spends Rs 50,000 to a lakh for every NSG protectee.

Perhaps it's time that the tax-payers money is used for the tax payers.