Mamata, Jaya to skip CMs’ meet
Not keen to lessen the pressure on the UPA government, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee are expected to skip the crucial chief ministers’ conference on internal security on Wednesday.
The government is keen to build consensus on the controversial NCTC and the anti-Naxal strategy in wake of the May 25 Chhattisgarh attack. But the meet, to be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is likely to become another platform for the Centre and states to squabble over “federal issues”.
The bureaucrats who have brainstormed and revised the NCTC proposal are already blaming the political class for trying to stall the major counter-terror project.
“We have diluted the NCTC proposal to allay states concern. If the project is stalled now, partisan politics will be responsible for it,”a top government official said.
23 state CMs have agreed to attend the meet so far. In a virtual snub to the government, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa is of the view that such conferences held by the Centre have become an “annual ritualistic exercise and very little opportunity was given to chief ministers to express their views”. Her West Bengal counterpart Ms Banerjee, who will also skip the meeting, however, has not cited any reason on why she is skipping the meet. As the atmosphere gets charged for Wednesday’s meet, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde will also take up non-controversial issues to win some points with states.
The MHA will discuss creation of a “separate intelligence cadre” in states to have dedicated officers for intelligence gathering. Interestingly, It was BJP ruled Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in 2008 — the year of Mumbai terror attacks — who had mooted the idea.
Mr Modi has been pressing for it at successive CM”s meets. In the agenda, the MHA has supported his view saying officers with suitable talent and willingness can be recruited only if a separate intelligence cadre is created. The MHA has noted in most states “there is a common cadre for the executive police and the intelligence branch” where “intelligence is becoming a casualty” as officers are attempting to get posted back to the executive which they find more “attractive.”
Another major proposal on the agenda is separation of crime investigation from law and order. This is keeping in mind the large-scale street protests recently witnessed across the country where maintenance of “public order” is becoming the top priority of the police.
The MHA says “investigations may receive a setback”.
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