PANAJI: The Chief Secretary, Mr Sanjay Kumar Shrivastava has said that it has been decided to provide better equipment/gadgets to the agencies looking after the coastal security of the state.

He also said that a state of the art radar will be installed at Panaji port, similar to the one existing at the Mormugao port, to track movement of vessels along the coast in a bid to prevent sea-borne attack on the state.
Mr Shrivastava further said that a meeting of the security agencies including Indian Navy, Coast Guard, police, marine police, directorate of fisheries etc was held on Monday to discuss the issue as well as to review performance of the personnel engaged in anti-terror attacks in a mock drill, Sagar Kavach, which was held at all the vulnerable places of attack.
Among the places where the mock drill was conducted were the state secretariat, railway stations, port area etc and the shortcomings of the personnel in dealing with potential threats were noted and they have been told to overcome them. The next exercise would be held by October-end or early November, he added.
He further said that in order to safeguard the state and secure its coast, the movement of fishing vessels would be noted and the fishermen venturing into the sea would be told not to deviate from the ‘approved’ routes and conduct fishing within designated areas.  The fishermen and the general public could pass on information about any untoward movement or incident on toll free number 1093, which would also be made mobile-compliant.
The Chief Secretary also said that at a separate meeting also held on Monday, 100 services of the state government department have been identified to be brought under e-services and that secretaries of the respective departments have been told to identify which of them could be made operational under e-service by December 19, this year.
As regards to no official being named as information officer under Right to Information Act, Mr Shrivastava said that he would review the situation soon and study the patterns in other states and appoint officers accordingly. Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary also informed that a meeting to see the progress made in implementation of the UID scheme was held on Tuesday afternoon. He said that the scheme would be implemented in entire state.