PM's plan for tackling terror

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a 100-day plan under a high-level central task force to develop an integrated mechanism — like the Department of Homeland Security in the US — to fight terrorism and Naxalism. His call for such a mechanism came while he was explaining to the top cops of the country how globalisation had not only led to the current financial crisis but also influenced the “realm of security” in India. The PM, pointing out that “globalisation has also led to a blurring of the distinction between external and internal threats”, suggested that a task force under the national security advisor (NSA) initiate a 100-day plan to address “emerging challenges”. Although the PM did not elaborate when work on the 100-day plan would begin, the task force will come out with a centralised institutional mechanism for coordination among different agencies and state police for concerted action against terrorists, Naxalites and insurgents. “The international environment is in far greater turmoil today than it was a year ago. This has major consequences for us, for in a globalised world, what affects one part of the globe often affects the other part as well,” Singh told a conference of state police chiefs and heads of paramilitary forces. With the country witnessing 64 terror attacks — Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Guwahati among them — in the past six months, Singh asked the cops to pull up their socks saying “time is not on our side”. On the role of the proposed task force, the PM said one of the areas which it would look into would be developing a Net-centric information command structure that enabled both state and central agencies to access and exploit information in a secure manner and well in time. Officials who attended the meeting said what the PM had in mind could be a structure of inter-state coordination similar to the Department of Homeland Security in the US. Recently, NSA M K Narayanan had met Homeland Security officials in New York to explore whether the model could be replicated in India. An official said though total replication of the US system was not possible, the Net-centric capability would at least devise a mechanism for information gathering and sharing — a weak link in India’s fight against terror. The Department of Homeland Security provides a nationwide platform to share security information with different agencies. It takes the lead in evaluating vulnerabilities and coordinating with other federal, state, local, and private entities to ensure the most effective response. Singh said the task force should come up with detailed steps to be taken immediately and also steps to be taken over the next several months so as to translate this vision of an integrated Net-centric capability into reality. On the focus areas of the task force, he said the group could suggest ways to improve the ability to anticipate and prevent surprises through closely networked intelligence collaboration and upgradation of both human and technological intelligence. Besides, the PM also suggested the setting up of a standing committee of state DGPs to advise the government on police and police-related legal matters. The PM also suggested inducting some executive level police personnel in the home ministry to help policy formulation and induce a degree of field experience into various formulations involving police matters.