Defence Ministry issues security guidelines to treat Indians working with foreign firms at par with foreign nationals

NEW DELHI: The defence ministry has issued a new set of security guidelines, asking its officials to treat Indian nationals working with foreign firms at par with foreigners for security clearance, restrict media interactions to the secretary level and maintain records of all photocopies taken. The rules were put in place earlier this month after the government faced embarrassment over a leak of classified information from various ministries. The guidelines seek to control access to the ministry and defence establishments, secure communication and prevent leaks from IT systems, while warning that internal military phone lines were also not secure.

These steps are in addition to the installation of surveillance cameras and access-control devices.

The new system would make it difficult for Indian executives working at foreign firms to enter the ministry at South Block or military installations.

As in the case of foreign nationals, they too will need to apply at least 10 days in advance for security clearance. Indian executives working with foreign firms previously had relatively easier access to the ministry, which allowed them to seek appointments at the last minute. The defence ministry has also cracked down on interaction with the media, with an instruction that only “ministers, secretaries and other officers who are specifically authorised are permitted to give information to the press”.

The ministry also doesn’t believe that its own communication network is secure, warning all officials not to speak on confidential matters even on the internal telephone system.

Specifying that no form of telephonic conversation is secure, it says, “every care has to be taken to prevent inadvertent leakage of information while discussing official matters over the telephone”.

A serious note has been taken on the tendency of certain officials to carry documents to their residence, with the security instructions specifying that it was not permitted, and that a special permission could be granted only if there was an “inescapable requirement”. The instructions also specify that a record has to be maintained of all photocopies in the ministry and that all classified papers need to be shredded to specified dimensions. All waste papers need to be destroyed under the supervision of a senior officer.

While the new instructions have been issued after a few security breaches came to light, including the passing on of information over the phone by a senior officer in the armed forces to a foreign national who posed as a senior bureaucrat, officials complain that the rules have made work extremely cumbersome.