The Union Home Ministry is working on a plan to revive the defunct National Centre for Counter-Terrorism (NCTC) by “engaging” with states and offering them “equal partner” status in the national counter-terror body, said officials. The move has been made following the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs. In its 203rd report on “Border Security, Capacity Building and Institutions”, the committee headed by former Home Minister P Chidambaram directed the ministry to hold “adequate consultations between the central government and the states”. It further noted that the “ministry should immediately revive the idea of NCTC as a single, unified and premier counter-terrorism agency and re-issue the notification laying down the power, functions and duties of the NCTC.” Top home ministry officials said they were working on a proposal that involved states since most of them had opposed the move. “We have to provide facilities to states and convince them so that they do not view the counter-terror body as a tool of the Centre and enjoy equal status in NCTC,” said a top government official, adding that the proposed body will report to MHA, not IB. The NCTC was conceived by the Congress-led UPA government when Chidambaram was the Home Minister. The counter-terror body, officials said, was modelled on the United States NCTC, set up after the 9/11 attacks. The idea was put in the cold storage after objections from several state governments, including Gujarat, over the powers proposed for the body. Governments of West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh too opposed it saying law and order is a state subject. The NCTC was mandated to integrate and analyse all intelligence pertaining to terrorism. The operations wing of the NCTC was given powers to arrest and search under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The standing committee in its report also noted, “Article 355 of the Indian Constitution casts a duty upon the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance. This duty assumes more importance in the present scenario where terrorism, insurgency and Left Wing Extremism have affected almost every State of India.” It further said, “While there are agencies like NIA, IB, MAC and NSG and some in the pipeline like NATGRID that are cumulatively capable of addressing these menaces, there is no single unified authority to coordinate the operations of these agencies and ensure a quick response in times of crises like the 26/11 attack.
