NCTC fate to be decided at June 5 CMs meeting y
The fate of the Union home ministry’s ambitious National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will be decided on June 5 when the chief ministers of all states gather for the annual conference on internal security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. With general elections scheduled for 2014, many within the security establishment are viewing this as one last effort of the MHA to cobble up support for the ambitious project which has not been able to take off so far.
Envisaged for the first time in 2009, post 26/11, the NCTC ran into rough weather immediately following stiff opposition by several state governments.
Virtually conceding that the NCTC will only take shape when all the chief ministers are on board, MHA officials said a final view will be taken after discussions with states early next month. “It all depends on how the states respond to the renewed efforts made by the MHA to make NCTC a reality,” a senior government official said. Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is returning from a visit to the US on Friday night, has got a first hand experience of how the American NCTC functions. Back home, Mr Shinde will once again discuss the NCTC project, particularly with non-Congress ruled states, who had reservations about the powers of arrest given to the NCTC sleuths and termed it an infirngement on their federal rights. The CMs had also opposed the move to put the NCTC under the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau.
The new proposal which Mr Shinde intends to discuss with the CMs on June 5, is a much watered down version of the original concept. The MHA is also open to the idea of removing the operational powers given to the agency.
Post new comment