National Security Guard to experience the Joy of Safe ePayments

NSG signs pact with IRCTC to ease ticket booking for personnel. NSG is the first paramilitary force to opt for e-ticketing in lieu of Railway Warrants

          NSG with 7000+ members spread all over India joins the club of Safe ePayments.

National Security Guard (NSG) is an Indian special forces unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was raised in 1984, following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, "for combating terrorist activities with a view to protect states against internal disturbances".

          IRCTC unveiled a special eTicketing facility  for NSG personnel. National Security Guard personnel will not have to face hardships to get railway tickets as India’s elite federal contingency force has signed an agreement with IRCTC for provisioning of e-ticketing facility.

The pact will eliminate the need of using Railway Warrants by NSG officers/personnel travelling on duty in trains.

Earlier, the NSG force personnel were supposed to visit Railway Reservation Counter to exchange their Railway Warrant for reserve tickets.

As per the pact, IRCTC will be extending the ticketing facility to NSG headquarters which later on may be extended to field units also.

IRCTC will be extending this scheme through advance deposit to facilitate hassle free service from payments at the time online ticket booking. NSG is the first central paramilitary force to opt for e-ticketing in lieu of Railway Warrants.

          The memorandum of understanding was signed today between the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and the NSG at the headquarters of the special force here.

This system will eliminate the need of carrying railway warrants by the NSG personnel.

Purchasing tickets through railway warrant system is a cumbersome and lengthy process as it requires the NSG staff to go to a railway reservation counter to exchange a railway warrant to reserve tickets.  

A railway warrant is a voucher issued for train travel for certain categories such as government employees, security force personnel and retirees at subsidised rates or free of charge, exchangeable for a ticket.

Under the MOU, the IRCTC will be extending the ticketing facility to the NSG headquarters and it may be later provided to the field units.

NSG administrative headquarters is at Mehram Nagar, Palam and operational headquarters at Manesar.

          NSG has 5 regional hubs 26 SCG Mumbai, 27 SCG Chennai, 28 SCG Hyderabad, 29 SCG Kolkata and 30 SCG Gandhinagar.

NSG is under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs. However it is not categorised under the uniform nomenclature of Central Armed Police Forces.

It has a special forces mandate, and its core operational capability is provided by the Special Action Group (SAG) which is drawn from the Indian Army.

The Special Rangers Group (SRG), the police component of NSG, which also handles VIP security, is composed of personnel on deputation from other Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces.

The NSG personnel are often referred to in the media as Black Cats because of the black outfit and black cat insignia worn on their uniform.

Read about Rail Warrants here.