145;Need better coordination between Central, state police agencies146;

The intelligence set-up is being augmented and some of this was already on the cards. Four thousand posts in the Intelligence Bureau have been de-frozen and 2,000 new posts have been cleared. Besides, we want the Multi Agency Centre MAC to be beefed up and the IB to play a major role in it. It should work as a 24X7 clearing-house where intelligence leads can be analysed and hard intelligence culled out.

We are also strengthening the inter-state intelligence gathering mechanisms. A joint task force is being set up precisely for this so that sharing of intelligence does not happen only on the desk. It should also work at an operational level since there needs to be better coordination between the Central and the state police agencies.

8226;Don8217;t fresh proposals for technical augmentation of the IB undermine the role of the National Technical Research Organisation NTRO set up a few years ago as the nodal high-tech intelligence-gathering agency?

The technical competence and utility of the two agencies is very different. The government is obviously aware of this.

8226;State Governments were asked by the Home Ministry to send proposals on the quantum and schemes they wanted implemented for intelligence augmentation. What has been the result of the exercise?

This is working on two levels. One, the Intelligence Bureau had been asked to prepare a scheme for intelligence modernisation for the states and this report has come in. Several state governments have also given their proposal. The idea is not to stick to the existing 5 per cent limit earmarked for intelligence operations in the budget for police modernisation for states. This will go up in an incremental manner. In states affected, for instance, by Naxalism, this 5 per cent is obviously not enough. The budgets now have to be need-based and separate outlays are being planned for restructuring the state intelligence machinary.

8226;The Home Ministry has an estimated budget of Rs 1,000 crore for police modernisation in states. Have you managed to get a special outlay cleared for implementing new schemes?

We have got an in-principal clearance from the Cabinet. You must remember many of these schemes were in the works before many of the serial blasts occurred. When the action plans firm up, they will be fine-tuned and budgets allocated. For seven-eight states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkand, action plans are ready.

What is important is that we want the MAC and the central agencies to become facilitators for coordinated action even on the operational side. Many inter-state linkages have been established, for instance, after the blasts in Ahmedabad and the Indian Institute of Science attack in Bangalore. I do not want to talk about the inter-state network smashed after the Delhi blasts since many leads are still being developed and investigations are on.

8226;The Indian Express highlighted the level of vacancies in the police which stands at 1.3 lakh all over the country at present. How is the problem being addressed by the Home Ministry?

The Home Ministry has to prioritise things and this is one of them. We are putting pressure on the states to fill vacancies and several states are doing so which is a good thing. The whole issue is that the flow of initiatives and a hard look at beefing up intelligence should not only flow from the Centre to the states but also upwards from the states to the Centre. There are fresh internal security challenges confronting us and these have to be assiduously examined by state governments as well.

8226;What is happening on the ground for metro policing after the terror attacks in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and New Delhi?

A lot is happening for metro policing in terms of gadgetry and coordinated intelligence gathering. The Cabinet has also given an in-principal clearance for this scheme. Also, the Mumbai Police Commissioner has been asked to make a proposal for modernisation of facilities for police forces of seven metropolitan cities.

After attacks in metropolitan cities there is one more regulatory step we are insisting on. We have emphasised that state governments should insist on benchmark security provisions for all public places like multiplexes, restaurants and cinema halls. These should be factored into the cost of the project and made mandatory, as say, fire clearances. We want states to tell us which laws and regulations have been made mandatory for owners and builders to have these in-built security provisions. There must be no complacency at any level and public involvement is also needed for effective policing. The Delhi Police, for instance, has launched an 8220;eyes and ears8221; scheme for this.

8226;What steps have been taken to check pilferage of explosives and easy availability of substances like ammonium nitrate, used in successive serial blasts?

Many steps are being taken including listing ammonium nitrate as a special category explosive. For this, detailed amendments are being made in the Explosives Rules. Both are in the pipeline and the Fertilisers Ministry is on board with us. Other measures include tagging of detonators at the manufacturing stage, licensing of small explosive manufacturers, security for transportation and so on. So a lot of work has been done in the past six months.

8226;What about the problem of prosecuting the arrested terror elements? What has the Home Ministry8217;s review of pending cases revealed?

We do have a monthly review of such cases and progress has been made, but I am afraid the Home Ministry cannot take over each and every function.

8226; Why is the government dragging its feet on legislating the Witness Protection Act?

This will be examined at a later stage. Al I can now say is that the parameters for such a law in India and say, in the USA, are very different.

8226; Any other initiatives you would like to emphasise?

The detection of huge quantities of FICN Fake Indian Currency Notes is worrisome. I recently chaired a high-level meeting on the subject. It is difficult to say whether detection has improved or more FICN is being printed but we now have a coordinated approach. The pattern the RBI has informed us about is that while more FICN was being found earlier at a stage when currency notes were coming in a soiled state, now more FICN is being traced at banks, which is a good sign.

Also, we have held meetings with the Department of Telecommunications and related departments to tighten the system for issuance of pre-paid SIM cards. BSNL and other service providers have to be more vigilant since mobile phones with pre-paid connections continue to be easily procured by anti-social and anti-national elements.