Defence forces can't procure jammers; govt tweaks policy

NEW DELHI: In a surprise move, the Defence Forces have been barred from procuring jammers under new guidelines unveiled today by the government which will now allow only states' police and jail authorities and central security agencies like IB and RAW to buy the equipment.

The decision to keep Defence forces out of the list of authorised agencies is significant as questions were raised on the now-defunct Army's Technical Support Division (TSD).

Follow @ETDefence Twitter handle for comprehensive coverage on other buzzing Defence stories

The TSD, which was set up during the tenure of the controversial former Army chief (now Union Minister) General V K Singh, who was accused of carrying out unauthorised operations. The jammers imported by the TSD for evaluation purpose could not be accounted for after the government decided to close the TSD.

"Jammers can be procured only by states' police department and jail authorities, and central government security agencies like RAW and IB," the new policy issued by Cabinet Secretariat said.

There was no mention of Defence Forces being allowed to procure in the new guidelines.

It modifies last year guidelines on procurement and use of jammers which had "Defence Forces" among other authorised agencies that can buy jammers.

The new norms also restricts exam conducting bodies like Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) from procuring jammers but allows it to deploy "low powered jammers to prevent cheating during examinations".

In case of movement of VVIPs guarded by Special Protection Group (SPG), all type of jammers procured by government agencies should be deployed in the vicinity, it said.

The new policy also bars import of jammers without getting a license from Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

"Private sector organisation and/or private individuals cannot procure or use jammers in India. These norms take into account the need to guard against random proliferation of jammers as well as to ensure that jammers installed do not unduly interfere with the existing mobile phone networks," the guidelines said.

Prior permission of Secretary (Security) in Cabinet Secretariat must be obtained before procurement of jammers, it said.