New Delhi, March 6 The Centre has granted a longer seven-year tenure to personnel of central armed police forces and the Assam Rifles joining the counter-terrorism commando force, NSG, on deputation, considering the "Black Cat" force's special combat requirements.
The Union home ministry approved the decision after the National Security Guard (NSG) requested an extension of the deputation tenure for these personnel from the current five-year period (extendable by one year twice) to seven years to preserve the "institutional memory" and the skill sets of its trained commandos.
The NSG is the federal counter-terrorism force, and its commandos are called "Black Cats" because of the black-coloured overalls they wear during combat.
The force undertakes special counter-terrorism operations and provides security cover to high-risk VIPs, in addition to conducting anti-hijack tasks.
The force draws its entire strength from deputations sent by the central armed police forces (47 per cent) and the Army (53 per cent).
An official told