Uttarakhand disaster .... the crisis brings the best out of Armed forces, ITBP and NDRF .... the personnel act bravely in emergency situations

http://t.co/xMbInYzxc0

All pilgrims rescued from Kedarnath, focus shifts to Badrinath and Harsil

Anand Soondas, Vishwa Mohan & Deeptiman Tiwary,TNN |Jun 24, 2013, 12.37AM IST 

A man showing photograph of his missing family members to pilgrims rescued from Gauri Kund at Guptakashi.

Badrinath\Dehradun\New Delhi: 

Amid the first official confirmation that more than 5,000 people perished in the Uttarakhand catastrophe, massive efforts to save thousands of pilgrims stranded in Kedarnath and Badrinath achieved a big breakthrough with rescue teams scooping up nearly 12,000 survivors against the looming threat of rains, disease and starvation.

Of those brought to safety, 7,000 had been trapped in the Kedarnath and Gaurikund areas — the stretch that bore the brunt of the deluge.

However, the fate of around 2,000 pilgrims stuck in Harsil near Uttarkashi remains vulnerable, and will see a concerted action from the rescue teams.

Although 10,000 people are still to be taken out from Badrinath, Harsil and Jungle Chatti, it was those marooned in Kedarnath and Gaurikund who had looked really precarious. Weak from days of starvation and facing the real risk of outbreak of epidemic in an area littered with rotting bodies, the hapless lot had looked particularly vulnerable against the threat of hostile weather.

The cloud burst had wreaked havoc in the area and smashed infrastructure, leaving the survivors without any shelter. The situation of those stuck in Badrinath is relatively better.

In short, the task of saving thousands of lives which appeared hopeless on Saturday evening with the clock ticking away still seemed daunting on Sunday but mercifully, not insurmountable. "The focus of the operation on Monday will be Harsil where around 2,000 pilgrims are stranded in vulnerable conditions," an official said.

However, the weather continues to be a worry. "Rains on Tuesday are our main worry... if we get three to four hours of window tomorrow, we can do well," Air Marshal S B Deo, DG, Air Operations, told reporters.

With Kedarnath and Gaurikund region — the epicentre of the destruction — virtually cleared of pilgrims, authorities can focus on those who remain in Badrinath and Harsil. The local police reached Kedarnath and Gaurikund on Sunday and have started the process of identification of bodies.

The 5,000 pilgrims who remain in Badrinath have been put up in different hotels, as Army and ITBP personnel try to step up their operations to get them out of the area. Around 100 people remain in Gaurikund.

The achievement of the Army, IAF, ITBP and NDRF will help contain the toll from the calamity which Uttarakhand's disaster management minister Yashpal Arya said was "at least 5,000". "At least 5,000 people must have been killed in the deluge," Arya told reporters at Jolly Grant airport in the state capital.





This was a five-fold jump from the 1,000 deaths confirmed by chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on Saturday. This was also a grim validation of the widely held estimate that, with thousands still unaccounted for amid reports of dozens of villages been swept away, the casualty could reach frightening proportions.

The backdrop made the success of the rescue effort look spectacular, especially considering that the teams ran against time to finish the operation before rains lashed the area again.

The multi-agency effort could pull off the feat thanks to a combination of factors, ranging from seamless coordination to sheer human grit.

The IAF on Sunday rescued more than 3,200 people and airdropped relief material as well as Army and NDRF personnel in flood-hit areas of Uttarakhand.

The NDRF used the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) 'Netra' to scan the location for survivors, while the authorities distributed 50 satellite phones imported early on Sunday from Hong Kong to facilitate coordination among the agencies.

The ITBP managed to erect a rope bridge on the Alaknanda at Lambagad in the Badrinath area, helping rescue teams to double the number of evacuations. Paramilitary troopers have also managed to open up a road for vehicular traffic at Hanuman Chatti........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDYvMjQjQXIwMDMwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Safe City Project ..... Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad

http://t.co/GppQxI3InU

Copters, UAVs to man skies in metros

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 24, 2013, 02.03AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Seven metropolitan cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad — will soon have individual air surveillance systems where helicopters with gun-toting commandos, balloons fitted with cameras and sophisticated sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will keep round-the-clock vigil over the cities.

The system, which was successfully used in the Capital during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, will now be replicated in all these cities under the 'Safe City Project' of the home ministry. It will be a permanent feature in all the seven metropolitan cities, unlike the one used in Delhi only during the Games period.

The ministry had in February approved Rs 432 crore for this purpose which is an integral part of the mega-city policing plan of the government. The CCTV surveillance, command control centre, highway patrol cars and fusion centre (keeping all data having bearing on safety and security at one place) are other components of this project.

The fund will be used to procure modern equipment like GPS/GIS for dial 100 system and patrol cars, CCTV systems, vehicle scanners, vehicle number plate identification system, cyber patrol and communication monitoring system and integrated GIS-based automated vehicle tracking and management system.

In its latest guidelines on the 'Safe City Project', the ministry said, "Air surveillance can be obtained by positioning various equipment i.e. balloons, UAVs, helicopters etc which should have gadgets like cameras, sensors etc to cater to specialized requirements on the occasion."

The data (video, audio, text) collected from these devices would be fed to the command control centre (CCC) for necessary action for both preventive and post-incident operations.

It said the CCC - having a network of computer systems -- would be the heart of the Safe City Project. Such centres - one each in every city - will have the capacity to store, analyze and disseminate data, wherever required, though a 'fusion centre'. The fusion centre will keep comprehensive database from various fields like vehicle registration numbers, UID numbers of citizens, residential addresses, PAN card details and crime-related details. It will, eventually, be linked with the Centre's NATGRID - National Intelligence Grid - project.

The Mega City Policing plan was introduced by the government under the Modernisation of Police Forces Scheme in 2005-06. The latest guidelines have, however, been framed with a view to equip police with sophisticated gadgets and air surveillance systems in the seven cities so as to enable them to meet the challenges of modern times.

"The final outcome of these guidelines is to ensure proper implementation of the project in the major cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. As a result of this, police will find itself well-equipped for preventing crime and will be better able to respond to and detect crime," the ministry said.

Emphasizing on CCTV networks under the project, the ministry said the network must cover vital public places and critical infrastructure. It could also cover public places like airports, railway stations, Metro stations, bus stations, public hospitals, universities, schools and colleges, major crossings and roundabouts on roads and important government buildings.

"Special care may be taken to cover areas which are more densely populated or prone to crimes. The CCTV network should be based on wireless system to the extent possible, except in certain places which are important from national security point of view, wherein it may be advisable to share data openly," the ministry said.

It suggested that private sector industries and business houses may be exhorted to install similar and compatible CCTV network from where data generated could be transmitted to the central command and control room.

Besides technical components like CCC, UAVs, fusion centre and CCTVs, the safe city project has non-technical component as well. It includes community policing, training of cops in soft skills and increasing the strength of women police in all police stations across these seven cities.......................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8wNi8yNCNBcjAwMTA3&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom 

Uttarakhand Disaster.....Coordination is the key issue after every disaster .... the UK tragedy showed how grave it was

http://t.co/lXofXQ75db

Lack of coordination hampers relief and rescue operations in Uttarakhand

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 21, 2013, 09.57PM IST 

NEW DELHI: Admitting that the lack of synergy among different agencies was hampering relief and rescue operations in Uttarakhand, the Centre on Friday appointed an NDMA member as 'nodal' officer to coordinate with different central and state agencies - the absence of which saw lot of confusion on the ground in the past five days.

Though armed and paramilitary forces have been working round the clock to evacuate the stranded people to safer places, the magnitude of the disaster and extent of damage left individual agencies to work without knowing the 'priority' area.

The government, however, finally woke up to the need of coordination when the home ministry during a review meeting on relief and rescue operations on Friday realized that every agency has, virtually, been working independently leaving vast stretch of affected areas remain untouched.

After the meeting, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said since there was an impression that the lack of coordination was hampering the government's mitigation efforts, the ministry decided to appoint the NDMA member and former Union home secretary VK Duggal as nodal officer to coordinate the relief and rescue operations.

Waking up to the need of coordination when officials pitched for the need of a point-person who can not only bring synergy among different agencies but can also work as a 'link' between central and state authorities, the ministry asked Duggal to operate from Deharadun.

Shinde will, during his visit to Uttarakhand on Saturday, impress upon the state authorities to work in coordination with the central agencies so that the benefit of the relief works reach far and wide with maximum impact on the ground. The government has, meanwhile, released an amount of Rs 145 crore from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to Uttarakhand.

Although the home ministry officials remained tightlipped as to why did the Centre wake up so late when the 'nodal' officer should have ideally been appointed on day one, they emphasized on the need to have a mechanism of a 'centralized command centre' which can coordinate with all agencies in disaster situation keeping the best international practice in mind.

They pointed out that though the government had created a central body - National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) - to lay down policies on disaster management and frame related guidelines under Disaster Management Act eight year ago, the concept of 'centralized command centre' — where all states and central agencies can report to or take order from -- could not take its root without any legislative backing.

"In the context of federal set-up, the responsibility to formulate the government response to a natural calamity is essentially that of the concerned state government. This provision, however, does not augur well when country faces disaster like Uttarakhand", said an official.

At present, there is a mechanism of Cabinet Committee on Disaster Management, headed by Prime Minister, and the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) - chaired by Cabinet secretary - to oversee the coordination and give directions in such a situation.

A section within the government, however, believed that such a mechanism cannot work effectively unless the country creates a 'centralized command centre' where even states can report without being involved in nitty-gritty of provisions of federal structure...........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzA2LzIyI0FyMDE2MDg=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

AND

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8wNi8xOCNBcjAwNjAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Politicians faced the heat when they became targets of Maoists

http://t.co/Kz4hKPUJEg

Scared netas from Maoist-hit states plead for security cover

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 15, 2013, 06.45AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Requests have been pouring in from politicians of Maoist-hit states for upgrading their security cover in the wake of the May 25 Chhattisgarh incident that left 29 people, including Congress leaders, dead in the daring Naxal attack.

So far, the Centre has received such requests from over a dozen politicians, including the new Congress chief of Chhattisgarh Charan Das Mahant, and family members of the slain party leader Mahendra Karma. Karma's wife and four sons made their requests on Friday, when they met Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde here.

Das, MP from Korba and Union minister of state for food processing and agriculture, may be considered for 'Z+' category of security, which is the highest category having 32 security personnel including house guards. Similarly, security of former Jharkhand chief ministers Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda may also be upgraded to 'Z+'.

MLAs and local leaders of Congress, BJP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) are also among those who have formally requested Shinde for upgrading their security. All the requests had come in from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha in the past fortnight.

"Most of those who requested for security citing threats from Maoists have already in the list of respective state protectee, but their requests are being processed whether they actually need 'upgraded' security cover keeping in mind threat perception," said a senior home ministry official.

He said the respective state governments had already taken decisions and upgraded security of local politicians. The home ministry is processing their requests and will extend such leaders the adequate cover when they visit the national Capital as well, he added.

The West Bengal government has taken the lead in upgrading security cover of as many as six district-level leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress. All of them are now getting 'Z' category (having 22 security personnel, including house guards) as against the 'X' and 'Y' categories security that were given to them before the May 25 incident.

"The ongoing panchayat polls appears to have prompted the state government to quickly acted on such requests," said an official here, adding other states too have paid heed to similar demands.

Jharkhand, which is currently under the President's rule, has moved a step forward by activating a special monitoring cell within the state police Special Branch to monitor the movement of leaders — irrespective of their political affiliations — in the Maoist-dominated areas.

After meeting Shinde, Karma's kin said they continued to receive threats from the Red ultras who asked them to leave their ancestral place and demanded security.

Accompanied by Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, Karma's son Deepak said, "We want security. The Naxals asked us to leave our ancestral place in Bastar and warned of dire consequences if we do not follow their diktat....The home minister assured us that he would examine their demands sympathetically and do the needful as early as possible".

Union home secretary R K Singh and director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Asif Ibrahim were also present during the meeting where Karma's sons are learnt to have expressed their views on how to handle the Maoist menace in Chhattisgarh.

Maoists attack passenger train in Jamui; Different theories are doing round to know the exact reason....Is it not just a blame-game?

http://t.co/bmjugYIy8G

Maoists find Bihar a 'soft' target; Centre to ask state to pull up its socks

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 13, 2013, 11.30PM IST 

NEW DELHI: Attack on a passenger train by Maoists may not be new to this region, but the Thursday incident appeared to be a case where the Red Ultras — who have been facing tremendous pressure in Jharkhand — preferred to turn to Bihar because the state has, of late, become a soft target in absence of major anti-Naxalite operations there.

Bihar is among the three Maoist-affected states which have shown more number of deaths in Naxalite violence in the current year as compared to the corresponding period last year. The state had reported 10 deaths in 89 incidents last year, whereas, it witnessed 24 deaths in 90 incidents in 2013.

The figures of Naxalite violence and casualties have prompted officials here in the home ministry to think that the state has been facing such a situation because it failed to carry out anti-Maoist operations in an expected manner. The assertion is, however, vehemently denied by the state police top brass.

State officials argued that had this been the case, Andhra Pradesh — which had almost eliminated the ultras from the state — would not have reported higher number of deaths. Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the other two states which have reported more number of deaths this year as compared to what they had reported till June 13 last year.

The state officials claimed that Bihar has, in fact, been carrying out intelligence-based specific operations and been quite successful in arresting maximum number of ultras this year.

"Only killing Maoist is not a sign of big operation," said a top state police official, adding the clearing of the entire Chakarbanda area — which had once been the Maoists' stronghold where police did not even think of entering — in Gaya district is an example how the state has been doing intelligence-based operation quietly.

Incidentally, the Jamui incident on Thursday which saw killing of three persons, including an RPF jawan, and injuring five others took place exactly a week after the Railway Protection Force (RPF) had sent an alert to all its units in Naxalite-affected states, asking them to increase presence of armed personnel in trains passing through such areas and follow all the standard operating procedure of guarding the moving trains.

Officials here said the motive behind such attack was generally to attack security (RPF) personnel and loot their weapons.

Preliminary reports from the state indicated that the Jamui incident could be the handiwork of local Jan Militia (of Munger-Giridih belt), which carries out such surprise attacks at vulnerable targets including passenger trains. Since the area in Jharkhand (Giridih area) has, virtually, become non-reachable for the ultras due to continuous anti-Naxalite operations, the Jan Militia turned to Bihar.

The Centre has, meanwhile, rushed two companies (200 personnel) of CRPF to the spot to carry out a combing-cum-search operation against the Maoists who retreated into the forest after carrying out the daring daylight attack on the train.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, "The CRPF and the local police have reached the spot. The operation is going on."

Condemning the attack, the minister of state for home RPN Singh said that sources of arms and ammunition have dried up for Naxalites and they have resorted to such measures. "These attacks on people and political leaders are a sign that the naxals are on the back foot," he said.

Politicians are really scared of visiting Red Zone post-May 25 Bastar carnage

http://t.co/wMZBsnsz5k

Scared netas from Maoist-hit states plead for security cover

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 15, 2013, 06.45AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Requests have been pouring in from politicians of Maoist-hit states for upgrading their security cover in the wake of the May 25 Chhattisgarh incident that left 29 people, including Congress leaders, dead in the daring Naxal attack.

So far, the Centre has received such requests from over a dozen politicians, including the new Congress chief of Chhattisgarh Charan Das Mahant, and family members of the slain party leader Mahendra Karma. Karma's wife and four sons made their requests on Friday, when they met Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde here.

Das, MP from Korba and Union minister of state for food processing and agriculture, may be considered for 'Z+' category of security, which is the highest category having 32 security personnel including house guards. Similarly, security of former Jharkhand chief ministers Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda may also be upgraded to 'Z+'.

MLAs and local leaders of Congress, BJP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) are also among those who have formally requested Shinde for upgrading their security. All the requests had come in from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha in the past fortnight.

"Most of those who requested for security citing threats from Maoists have already in the list of respective state protectee, but their requests are being processed whether they actually need 'upgraded' security cover keeping in mind threat perception," said a senior home ministry official.

He said the respective state governments had already taken decisions and upgraded security of local politicians. The home ministry is processing their requests and will extend such leaders the adequate cover when they visit the national Capital as well, he added.

The West Bengal government has taken the lead in upgrading security cover of as many as six district-level leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress. All of them are now getting 'Z' category (having 22 security personnel, including house guards) as against the 'X' and 'Y' categories security that were given to them before the May 25 incident.

"The ongoing panchayat polls appears to have prompted the state government to quickly acted on such requests," said an official here, adding other states too have paid heed to similar demands.

Jharkhand, which is currently under the President's rule, has moved a step forward by activating a special monitoring cell within the state police Special Branch to monitor the movement of leaders — irrespective of their political affiliations — in the Maoist-dominated areas.

After meeting Shinde, Karma's kin said they continued to receive threats from the Red ultras who asked them to leave their ancestral place and demanded security.

Accompanied by Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, Karma's son Deepak said, "We want security. The Naxals asked us to leave our ancestral place in Bastar and warned of dire consequences if we do not follow their diktat....The home minister assured us that he would examine their demands sympathetically and do the needful as early as possible".

Union home secretary R K Singh and director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Asif Ibrahim were also present during the meeting where Karma's sons are learnt to have expressed their views on how to handle the Maoist menace in Chhattisgarh...........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDYvMTUjQXIwMjMwMg==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom 

Babus warned not to bypass their immediate boss ..... after all, they are in government service

http://t.co/ohEMGNYWaK

Babus can’t air woes directly to PM, says DoPT citing 1952 order

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 13, 2013, 04.47AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Don't dare to bypass your immediate boss to air your grievance if you are a Central government employee. You may land in a soup if you violate thisdiktat of the ministry of personnel that has fished out a 60-year-old circular to rein in an employee.

Observing that several officials have, of late, written directly to ministers or even the Prime Minister about their complaints, the ministry had last week issued a note asking babus to strictly adhere to a prescribed norm to express their problem to "immediate official superior".

The note, written by department of personnel and training (DoPT) on June 6, even issued a warning, saying, "appropriate disciplinary action may be taken against those who violate these instructions".

Digging out the 1952 circular to sensitize officials, DoPT said, "Of late, it is observed that there is an increasing tendency on the part of officers at different levels to bypass the prescribed channels of representation and write directly to the high functionaries totally ignoring the prescribed channels".

It noted that the problem is more acute in big departments where often junior employees at clerical level address multiple representations to minster, Prime Minister and other functionaries. Most of the grievances of these officials are pertained to promotion, service rights or conditions.

The prescribed norms allow the Central government employees to directly write to their immediate boss. Its violation is also observed in the methodology adopted by service unions that invariably try to air the grievances of officials through elected representatives.

"Apart from individual representations, the service unions have also developed a tendency to write to the ministers and Prime Minister on individual grievance. Some of these representations are often forwarded through MPs, in violation of Rule 20 of the CCS (Conduct) Rule, 1964," said the department in its office memorandum.

Elaborating on how the aggrieved central government employees should express their grievances, the note - sent to all ministries, CAG, CVC, CBI, UPSC and Union Territory administration - said, "It has been envisaged in these instructions (1952 circular) that whenever, in any matter connected with his service rights or conditions, a government servant wishes to press a claim or to seek redress of a grievance, the proper course for him is to address his immediate official superior, or the head of his office, or such other authority at the lowest level as is competent to deal with the matter."..........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDYvMTMjQXIwMTcwMg==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

...... and terrorists are terrorists

http://t.co/tj0ojytdvM

Maoists are terrorists, Shinde says

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 11, 2013, 08.42PM IST 

NEW DELHI: A day after an all-party resolution failed to term Maoists as terrorists due to left's opposition, the Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday said Maoists were indeed terrorists and underlined that the way the ultras had killed innocent people inChhattisgarh on May 25 showed the terror face of thenaxal movement.

Referring to the May 25 incident which left 27 persons including senior Congress leaders (V C Shukla, Mahendra Karma and others) killed, Shinde said, " A person was fired bullets 74 times (on Karma's body who died in the attack) and stabbed 75 times. Can you say it is a simple thing? Is it not terror? It is a terror act".

He was responding to why the all-party resolution did not mention naxalism as terrorism in its resolution in as many words. Without mincing words, he said, "We have always maintained that the naxal movement is terrorist activity. It has also been proved".

Congress and BJP leaders during the all-party meet on Monday insisted that Maoists are no different from terrorists and should be treated thus. But the left leaders argued that if the Maoists are treated as terrorists, then it would mean the government is treating this only as a security problem. They also pointed that if naxalism is equated with terrorism, it would render the multi-pronged strategy that involved police action and development and political activities meaningless.

Shinde, however, on Tuesday said the use or not use of 'words' would not deter them from adopting two-pronged strategy of sustained security action and simultaneous development activities.

"We have got two-pronged action directive from the all-party meeting that we should go ahead with the development work and at the same time we should take stringent action against them. Both Centre and state security forces will work together (in tackling the menace)".

The all-party resolution has urged states to draw upon their own resources as well as the resources provided by the central government to "re-establish the rule of law and accelerate development activities in the affected states".

Asked the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's demand during the chief ministers' conference on June 5 for a 'white paper' on internal security including naxal problem, the home minister said there was no need for it as the government had constantly been working to deal with it in coordination with states and sharing the details with all chief ministers.

"Modi is chief minister for so many years. He has been attending it (conference of internal security) every year. He should understand the gravity of naxalism as he is just on the border of Maharashtra (which is affected by naxalism). So if he has understood the gravity of naxalism and if proper care is not taken, what sort of white paper he wants. I think we need to be rigid on this. I don't think any white paper is required on it," Shinde said during his monthly press conference here.

On progress of the NIA probe into the May 25 incident, the home minister said, "The NIA is enquiring into the case. And the police action from both the state government and central paramilitary forces is on. I can't give you the lead. This is not the time to give lead".

His remarks came on the day when the Congress leader V C Shukla, who suffered bullet injuries in the Chhattisgarh incident last month, succumbed to his injuries in a Gurgaon hospital.

On allegations of conspiracy of some Congress leaders behind the May 25 naxal attack, Shinde said, "When enquiry is going on, anybody can make allegations. Actual investigation is going on, as and when the investigation is completed, it will be known. The political accusation has no meaning"..................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzA2LzEyI1BjMDEyMTI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

United front against Maoists ..... All-Party Meeting at 7, RCR

http://t.co/I870mTWoyZ

Parties speak in one voice to weed out Maoist menace

Vishwa Mohan & Rakhi Chakrabarty,TNN | Jun 10, 2013, 11.10PM IST 

NEW DELHI: Presenting a united front against Naxalism, leaders of all political parties on Monday resolved to jointly fight the extremists calling the CPI (Maoist) an unlawful organization that indulges in senseless acts of violence aimed at overthrowing parliamentary democracy. 

Although the unanimous resolution adopted by the meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday promises to redress any sense of alienation and past injustice, it unequivocally rejects the Maoist doctrine ruling out any compromise on the Red rebels shunning violence.

Coming in the wake of a massacre of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, the meeting reflected a rare unanimity in stating that "Nothing can be more dangerous to our Republic than the insurgency of the CPI (Maoist) in pursuit of its misguided goal of overthrowing parliamentary democracy."

Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj made a case for strong action against Maoists as she stressed the need for the government to regain control of territories under the rebels' sway so that the fruits of development reach people without fear of disruption.

In a two-and-half page speech, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi described the Chhattisgarh incident as "barbaric" and said the attack is an assault on India's democratic values and called for a multi-dimensional strategy to combat the scourge.

Sonia noted that Maoists operate in areas with large tribal population that suffers from considerable deprivation and backwardness. She said poverty and under development can be rolled back through democratic means but the Maoists had chosen a destructive path.

Urging the meeting to sink differences to come together to speak in one voice, Sonia used the occasion to urge parties to facilitate passage of legislation on compensation for land acquisition and for sharing the benefits of mining with local population.

Although she stressed the need for development and political engagement, Sonia's speech also noted that primary responsibility for good governance lay with the states while the Centre is duty bound to supplement resources.

During the two-hour meeting, attended by the PM, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and finance minister P Chidambaram, the Congress and BJP leaders insisted that Maoists have to shun violence as a means to achieve political goals.

Left leaders — Basudeb Acharia of CPM and Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI — argued that if Maoists are treated as terrorists, it would mean the government is treating Naxalism as only a security problem. "That would render the multi-pronged strategy that involved police action, development and political activities meaningless," said Acharia.

Sonia, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and BJD leader and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik were among those who attended the meeting that was held at the PM's residence.

Left leaders said alienation of the people, especially tribals, in the vast swathe of land affected by Maoist insurgency was a prime reason why the rebels got the support of locals. Acharia and Dasgupta insisted the resolution must include the issue of "alienation" of people in the affected areas.

This was not at variance with Congress's call for social inclusion of tribals, but Sonia stressed that the Maoist claim to speak for tribals is hollow assertion.

BJP leaders argued that there cannot be any rationalization of violence.

Left leader said that the reference to the "sense of alienation" was included at their instance as the draft had earlier spoken of "injustice". However, the Left leaders did sign on to some tough references to in the resolution backing sustained operations to clear areas of Maoist influence and its rejection of extremist ideology.

The resolution said, "We resolve that we shall remain united and we shall speak in one voice and act with a sense of unified purpose and will".

Asking state governments and Centre to work together to fight the Naxal menace through all legitimate means, the resolution said, "We also urge the state governments to draw upon their resources as well as the resources provided by the central government to re-establish the rule of law and accelerate development activities in the affected states".

Condemning the Chhattisgarh incident, the PM in his opening remarks termed the Maoist attack a "frontal assault" on democratic foundation of the country and assured the leaders of the political parties of all Central help to fight Naxalism.

Singh also emphasized on the need to further fine tune and strengthen the strategy to fight the ultras.

Patnaik rooted for inter-state joint task forces for coordinated anti-Naxal operations in inter-state border areas..........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8wNi8xMSNBcjAwOTAy&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

POCSO ..... a move in right direction .... let's make people aware of this protection mechanism and their rights

http://t.co/QeIKSOTzCs

States asked to sensitize cops on law against minor abuse

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 9, 2013, 03.05AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Amid disturbing reports of child rape and molestation from across the country, the Centre has written to all state governments asking them to sensitize local police of a seven-month-old law which provides for stringent punishment for offences of sexual assault and sexual harassment against minors.

Citing the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), which came into force in November last year, the Union home ministry — in its four-page note to the states — also asked them to take measures to make public aware of the law so that victims, their family members and others lodge complaints.

Underlining the need for effective implementation of the law, the ministry, in its note, said, "The Act recognizes that the intent to commit an offence, even when unsuccessful for whatever reason, needs to be penalized."

The note was written by joint secretary (centre-state) S Suresh Kumar to additional chief secretaries and principal secretaries (home) of all state government and Union Territory administration on May 28.

The recent incident in Rajasthan where minor girls were sexually assaulted in an NGO-run shelter prompted the ministry to send such an advisory to the states so that such episodes do not remain unreported.

An incident in Delhi where a five-year-old girl was raped by her neighbours in April leading to public outrage also set the tone of the note. As against 5,368 cases of child rape in the year 2009, India had reported 5,484 cases of such incidents in 2010 and 7,112 incidents in 2011.

It is also felt that many cases remain unreported, specifically where minors are sexually abused by their relatives or acquaintances.

Highlighting a provision of the POCSO, the ministry said, "The Act makes it mandatory to report commission of an offence and also the recording of complaint. Failure to do so would make a person liable for punishment of imprisonment for six months or/and with fine".

The ongoing investigation into the Rajasthan incident revealed that the sexual assault of the orphaned minor girls continued for so long because it wasn't reported.

Despite knowing the crime, the in-charge of the care home did not report the matter to the police just to avoid bad publicity of the institution.

The POCSO was drafted to strengthen the legal provisions for the protection of children from sexual abuse and exploitation\pornography.

It provides for stringent punishments which have been graded as per the gravity of the offences – ranging from simple to rigorous imprisonment of varying periods. The Act also provides for the establishment of Special Courts for trial of offences under the law, keeping the best interest of child as of paramount importance at every stage of the judicial process.

For the more heinous offences of penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault, the burden of proof is shifted to the accused. “This provision has been made keeping in view the greater vulnerability and innocence of children”, said the ministry’s note.

At the same time, to prevent misuse of the law, punishment has been provided for making false complaint or providing false information with malicious intent. Such punishment has, however, been kept relatively light (six months) to encourage reporting. If false complaint is made against a child, punishment is higher (one year)..........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTMvMDYvMDkjQXIwMTcwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Maoists know your weakness .... pull up your socks or be ready for more such strikes

http://t.co/8Y0Kahxrfg

States agree to take lead role in tackling Maoist menace; go after top naxal leaders

  
Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 6, 2013, 10.56PM IST 

The capacity of the Maoists to repeatedly stage outrages like the one in Chhattisgarh on May 25 has brought home the realization that militancy can be taken on only if the state police’s morale is high and its leadership able and willing.

NEW DELHI: States seem to have agreed that the Maoist threat can be combated only with their police forces taking the lead in going after the top ultra leaders and choking the flow of money.

The message was amplified with states on Wednesday agreeing to lead the fight against Naxals with the Centre in a supplementary role like ramping up forces' strength along with other logistical support.

So far, the Maoist central leadership - Mupalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy, Nambala Keshav Rao, Thippiri Tirupati, Balmuri Narayan Rao and Somji — remain untraced, making it impossible for state agencies to track the ultras' control structure.

The capacity of the Maoists to repeatedly stage outrages like the one in Chhattisgarh on May 25 has brought home the realization that militancy can be taken on only if the state police's morale is high and its leadership able and willing. The lesson was enforced in Punjab during the Khalistan movement and more recently in Jammu & Kashmir where the state police has developed impressive intelligence-gathering capacity.

Though state forces in Naxalite-affected states have been successful in eliminating some top Maoist leaders, including Koteswar Rao alias Kishanji and Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, and arresting couple of others like Kobad Gandhy, Narayan Sanyal and Amitabh Bagchi, the rest operate with impunity. Neither the state police nor the central agencies have any clue of their whereabouts.

The matter was discussed in a separate session during the conference on internal security on Wednesday when states resolved to jointly fight against Red ultras with the Centre filling a critical gap in terms of manpower, materials and fund.

States' consent to "take control of operations" marked a major shift from the existing practice where the state police largely depend on central forces for such actions. Besides, the state police, at present, go after top Maoists only if they are suspected to be in that particular state. There is hardly any coordination for inter-state operations.

Realizing the impact of the absence of a national policy, the states felt the need for a uniform approach that aims at eliminating the Maoist top leadership through sustained operations and disrupting the ultras' financial base by accessing tendu leaf directly through a minimum support price (MSP) mechanism. At present, the lucrative forest produce is procured by contractors who share it with Maoists.

Under the national policy, the states will strengthen police stations and intelligence gathering mechanism in Naxalite-affected districts with the help of central fund.

"The Centre will continue to provide paramilitary forces, but states will have to set up police stations, recruit police personnel from Maoists' zones and develop basic intelligence network like what Andhra Pradesh has successfully done over the past few years. The police station will become the hub of counter-insurgency efforts", said an official, adding it will take two to three years to complete the task.

During discussion over the issue, CMs agreed that this is a battle that can only be won if the state police provides leadership and takes control of operations under a "national policy". The central forces, because of their very nature, can only play a supporting role. This lesson is evident from the success of state police forces in Punjab, J&K, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh.

Sources said that the government will try to get political approval of the policy in June 10 all-party meeting which is being convened in the backdrop of last month's Chhattisgarh incident that left 27 people, including Congress leaders, dead.

The special session on Wednesday, presided over by the home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and attended by CMs of Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar, also resolved that political mobilization by mainstream political parties is necessary to wean local populations away from the Maoists' influence and such political activity has to be encouraged by all the state governments.

It was noted during discussion that there is a need for uniformity in approach by all the Maoist-affected states if success has to be achieved in eradicating the Naxalite problem. "The strategy and tactics required for this is by and large based on the lessons we learn from each other. Hence, any state with a completely different strategy is bound to face serious problems in the long-term," the meeting resolved, while pitching for a national policy...........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8wNi8wNyNBcjAwODAy&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

NCTC ..... cry to protect federal structure is nothing but pure politics

http://t.co/hum47I9g3U

Non-Congress states' firewall sends NCTC in freezer

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 6, 2013, 04.58AM IST 

The political polarized sentiment meant that the NCTC — seen by many as essential for improving India's response to terrorism — may remain on paper more than four years after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai shook the nation.

NEW DELHI: A sharp political divide has stumped the government's hopes of building a consensus on a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) - a centralized entity to evaluate and process intelligence on terror threats - with most non-Congress chief ministers rejecting even a diluted version of the body.

States opposed to the NCTC invoked a threat to federalism despite the government agreeing to move NCTC out of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and curtailing its powers to make arrests on the basis of intelligence gathering in suspected cases of terrorism.

The political polarized sentiment meant that the NCTC — seen by many as essential for improving India's response to terrorism — may remain on paper more than four years after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai shook the nation.

The proposal has been hit by a delay in conceptualization followed by a prolonged stand-off between the Centre and states over NCTC being given the powers to make arrests. All the while India has continued to suffer terror strikes and the need for an agency that institutionalizes intelligence sharing and breaks down inter-agency firewalls is seen to be urgently required.

The mood of Opposition CMs may well mean that the NCTC is put into deep freeze in an election year as non-UPA states made it amply clear that will not accept the agency being imbued with any "operational" power — no matter whether conducted "through" or "in conjunction with state police" as clarified by the Centre.

Interestingly, two Congress CMs — Maharashtra's Prithviraj Chavan and Karnataka's Siddaramaiah - also expressed reservations and called for further examination of certain provisions so that the central agency does not encroach upon the states' domain.

On the other hand, Assam, the third Congress-ruled state, supported the move, with a caveat saying states should be more engaged in developing intelligence leads and executing operations.

As was expected, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi mounted a strong attack on the Centre, saying that the annual meeting of CMs had become a ritual. His remarks that the Centre is more interested in "political security" rather than national security were contested by Congress leaders.

Although all BJP and NDA-ruled states rejected the central anti-terror body, Chhattisgarh presented a different view. CM Raman Singh said the formation of such a body should be ratified by Parliament so that it becomes responsible and answerable to people.

Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Punjab, Tripura too rejected the modified version of the agency while Tamil Nadu expressed its concern over the Centre's attempt to push through such proposal without discussing the 'changes' with the state. The SP-ruled Uttar Pradesh nuances its opposition differently. The chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the existing Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS) in his state was working perfectly to deal with terrorism.

States articulated their position during the day-long Conference of chief ministers on internal security. Though the finance minister P Chidambaram, who also attended the conference, tried to defend his pet project which was conceived when he was the home minister, neither Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor home minister Sushilkumar Shinde uttered NCTC in their respective speeches.

Shinde even praised the existing mechanism of coordination through the MAC (Multi-Agency Centre within the Intelligence Bureau) — indicating he may not rush through operationalising the proposed anti-terror body — even as a section within the government wants to go ahead with the plan to operationalise the agency under the revised order.

Surprisingly, even Modi, who termed the NCTC a "poorly conceived" idea, noted the effectiveness of the MAC which was operationalised after the 26\11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008 for real-time collation and sharing of intelligence. Modi, in fact, suggested the government to strengthen the MAC instead of going for a new institution in the form of NCTC.

Under the revised format, the anti-terror body will not work under the IB, nor will it have any operational power (arrest, search and seizure) on its own. It can carry out anti-terror operation only "through or in conjunction with" state police.

The truncated NCTC will also not be a "single" point of control and coordination as originally notified in February, 2012. Under the revised version, the agency will merely act as "an apex body" for coordinating all resources and efforts for countering terrorism.

Chidambaram said it was "deeply regrettable" that a few chief ministers opposed even the modified version of the NCTC. "I am afraid, the kind of seriousness that we should give to NCTC, is lost... If this NCTC is opposed, I am afraid, as I said, the country will pay price from time to time," he told reporters after Modi's criticism of central agency at the chief ministers' conference.

The finance minister, at the same time, defended the stand of couple of Congress CMs. He said, "Some chief ministers are talking about giving safeguards on NCTC. They are not opposing NCTC. I think opposing NCTC is unfortunate. I think it is wrong"...................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzA2LzA2I0FyMDAxMDI=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

+

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzA2LzA2I0FyMDE2MDE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Was this remark meant for close-door discussion?

http://t.co/GpAtmAUm6p

India blames Pakistan for trying to revive Sikh militancy

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 5, 2013, 08.56PM IST 

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said there were reports which clearly indicated that the ISI was trying to revive Sikh militancy by providing training to militants in its facilities in Pakistan.

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday blamed Pakistan for trying to revive Sikh militancy and said that the neighbouring country's spy agency ISI continued to train misguided youth from the community to carry out terror attacks not only in Punjab but also in other parts of the country.

Revealing the ISI's gameplan, Union home ministerSushilkumar Shinde said, "Sikh youth based and settled in Europe and US are also being motivated in this regard".

He said, "Sikh youth are being trained in ISI facilities in Pakistan. Interdictions and interrogations have revealed use of jailed cadres, unemployed youth, criminals and smugglers by Pak-based Sikh terror groups for facilitating terror attacks".

Though the home minister did not give any specific example, he referred to interrogation reports of arrested militants and seizures of a large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives, including RDX, which found its way into Punjab through the western borders, to substantiate his point.

Addressing the chief ministers here at a conference on internal security, Shinde said the state police had recovered "significant quantity of RDX" during operations in Rajasthan and Punjab in the last one year.

The home minister also underlined in his speech that the country continued to face serious challenges of its internal security scenario from "jehadi terrorists".

He said, "India has long and porous border with Bangladesh and Nepal, which have been used by Pak-based jehadi groups to ex-filtrate terrorists out of India for training in Pakistan and induction of terrorists\hardware\finance into India for actions.

"Jehadi tanzeems in Pakistan with affiliation to LeT, JeM and Indian Mujahideen (IM) have set up channels for transfer of funds from Pakistan to India via Gulf and Nepal, besides using Western Union money transfer and hawala channel. Moreover, ex-SIMI cadres and similar militant elements based in Gulf have also been observed collecting money for causing destruction in India".

Referring to Jammu & Kashmir, Shinde said though the situation in the state was improved and terrorist strength in the Valley had declined, the cross border terrorist infrastructure remained intact.

He said though there were reports that the number of terror training camps in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) had come down from 42 to 21, it needed to be verified.

Stating that the terror groups were taking advantage of communication channels which have become more sophisticated over a period of time, the home minister said, "From mobile phones, terrorists today have moved on to use of satellite phones, Thuraya sets, use of spoofed IDs and coded transactions over e-mail and chat sessions, besides VoIP to communicate across the border"........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEzLzA2LzA2I0FyMDE0MDE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Fight against Red Ultras ....... a mere test of political will

http://t.co/aRoNj65aHd

States to adopt uniform approach to counter Maoist menace

Vishwa Mohan & Rakhi Chakrabarty,TNN | Jun 5, 2013, 10.20PM IST 

NEW DELHI: With the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the Centre and states to work together to deal with the "very grave threat" posed by Maoists, the CMs during the conference on internal security here on Wednesday vowed to use "all their might" to counter the Maoist insurgents through a "uniform approach" under a national policy.

Consensus to adopt a national policy to deal with Naxalism is considered a major shift from the existing system, where every Maoist-affected state has its own way to deal with the problem.

The states also agreed to adopt Andhra Pradesh-model of policing to deal with the Red Ultras. Besides having a strong special force (Greyhounds), the state had over the years worked diligently to strengthen police stations in Naxal-affected districts.

The Centre agreed to provide adequate fund to the states for improving the basic police infrastructure and fill the critical security gaps of over one lakh square kilometers in the affected states through recruitment, training and deployment.

Setting the tone for the June 10 all-party meeting over the Maoist issue which is being convened in the backdrop of the last month's Chhattisgarh killings to build a broader national consensus on the strategy to tackle the Naxalite challenge, the leaders also adopted a resolution during the conference showing complete unity in dealing with the Maoist menace.

Deliberations on strategy to deal with the problem also saw CMs of seven Naxal-affected states agreed to have a policy where the states can directly procure forest resources like tendu leaf through a minimum support price (MSP) mechanism so that such economic activity does not fall into the Maoists' hands.

"At present, these lucrative forest produce are being procured by private contractors who have to part their earnings with Maoists out of fear. Once states start procuring these products, it will help in blocking the 'finance' of Red Ultras," said an official.

Addressing the CMs, the PM also showed urgency to develop a mechanism where both the Centre and states can work together. Admitting that the Chhattisgarh Naxal attack was a "setback" to the success story achieved by the government in tackling the Maoists, he said the time has come to view the challenges of terrorism, communal violence and left wing extremism in a holistic manner, rising above narrow, political and ideological divides.

"I think each one of us needs to be completely objective in our approach to these issues, acting in national interest rising above narrow political and ideological divides. I would appeal to all political parties and all sections of society to work together to find effective ways and means of meeting these grave challenges," Singh said.

Most of the chief ministers and lieutenant governors of Union Territories attended the Conference. West Bengal CM Mamata Bannerjee and Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa were among the notable absentees.

There was a separate session for seven Naxal-affected states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra — to discuss the Maoists issue in the conference.

Interestingly, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi too earlier during his speech pitched for including his state in all deliberations concerning Naxalism taking in view the urban plan of the CPI (Maoists) which include Golden Corridor of the Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad industrial belt as one of its main targets.........................................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8wNi8wNiNBcjAwODAz&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

NCTC .... a political hot potato

http://t.co/A8n3gBIYqC

Govt not keen on making more changes in NCTC

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 5, 2013, 06.24AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Although the Centre apprehends some opposition of non-Congress chief ministers to even to the 'diluted' National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) at Wednesday's conference on internal security, it looks determined to operationalize the counter-terrorism body as early as possible.

Fresh draft order of the revised NCTC — to be circulated among CMs during the conference — clearly says that the central body "shall come into force with immediate effect" - unlike last year's notification which gave home ministry 25 days to work out a formal mechanism.

The government does not seem keen to make any more changes with the NCTC being now moved out of the Intelligence Bureau and placed within the home ministry. This still does not put it at par with an entity like the national investigative agency that has been formed by an act of Parliament.

The breathing space previously provided saw a volley of opposition from states forcing the home ministry to backtrack on its plan to operationalize the anti-terror body from March 1, 2012.

Under the new format, the central anti-terror body will now not work under the Intelligence Bureau (IB) nor will it have any operational power (arrest, search and seizure) on its own. It can carry out anti-terror operation only "through or in conjunction with" state police.

The reduced NCTC will, therefore, not be "a single and effective point of control and coordination" as originally notified in February, 2012. Under the revised draft order, which seeks to address concerns of the states, the new central agency will act as "an apex body for coordinating all resources and efforts for countering terrorism".

The new definition brings the NCTC closer to its counterparts in countries like the US where it is seen an entity that collates and processes information and was conceived as a measure to break down inter-agency firewalls and rivalries. But unlike in the US, where FBI has powers to make arrests anywhere, no central agency enjoys similar jurisdiction in India.

Since almost all non-Congress CMs had opposed the Centre's move to keep this body within IB last year, the revised draft order - that is to be notified the moment it gets the nod of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) - brings it out of the IB and puts it directly under the Union home ministry. Unlike previous notification which had empowered an additional director rank of IB officer to head it, the central body will now be headed by a director general rank police officer who will report to the home minister and home secretary.

The NCTC will now have a core staff directly recruited and posted in the central agency. Other staff may join the agency on deputation from other agencies like NTRO, JIC, RAW, CBDT and NCB among others. Earlier, the Centre had proposed to have a core staff for this body drawn from the personnel of IB.

Besides, the fresh draft has deleted two contentious sections which had specified NCTC as a 'designated authority' under Section 2(e) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and gave it power of arrest, search and seizure under Section 43A of the anti-terror law.

Both these sections were opposed by the chief ministers as they had argued that the power to the anti-terror body under UAPA will interfere with the federal structure of the constitution.

After deleting these provisions in the revised draft order, officials believe that there is not a single point left now in the draft which may draw states' negative remarks. They, however, apprehend that though the states may not find any reason to oppose it now, the non-Congress chief ministers are likely to raise questions merely for reason.

"If that happens, the opposition to NCTC will completely be political. We have proposed to completely detach the anti-terror body from the ambit of IB and no operation will be carried out without taking state into the loop. We don't see any reason why can't it be operationalised now", said a senior home ministry official.

Those who opposed the Centre's move last year include chief ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), J Jayalalithaa, Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and Nitish Kumar (Bihar). Banerjee and Jayalalitha are skipping the meeting.

An attempt to build a super structure on the foundation of sand

http://t.co/vgqWhTM55j

Internal security conference: CMs to pitch for more central fund to improve basic police infrastructure

Vishwa Mohan & Bharti Jain,TNN | Jun 4, 2013, 12.15PM IST 

NEW DELHI: In what may be described as an attempt to build a super structure on the foundation of sand, theUPA government had in the past over four-five years taken up a number of big-ticket initiatives to strengthen internal security infrastructure but it failed to contribute much to bring change at the level of local police which is the primary responder to any crime incident.

This observation is going to dominate the Conference of chief ministers on internal security here on Wednesday when non-Congress ruled states would pitch for more central funds for improving their basic police infrastructure.

There has already been lot of unease among non-Congress ruled states about the Centre's approach to deal with internal security challenges. The chief ministers of such states had during previous Conferences clearly pointed out how the home ministry had pushed for big-tickets security reforms without taking needs of local police into account.

Be it creating NIA to investigate all terror cases, setting up NSG regional hubs, launching Rs 2,000 crore worth CCTNS project to connect over 14,000 police stations, operationalising Rs 1,011 crore Immigration, Visa and Foreigners' Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) system or setting up NATGRID at the cost of Rs 1,100 crore for real-time information sharing, the efforts may elude results if one looks at the state of police and policing.

Such a situation really worries security experts and retired bureaucrats. They refer how the country faces huge police vacancy of over five lakh personnel. Though states had launched recruitment drives, the paucity of fund and misplaced priority kept the vacancy at more or less the same level during 2009-12. Home ministry figures show that the number of police vacancy has, in fact, slightly increased from 5.03 lakh in 2009 to 5.39 lakh in 2012.

How would the big projects make the country secure when the states hardly have cops to man them?

"It's a scenario where the super structure is coming up on foundation of sand. You cannot imagine securing citizens when the foundation (police station) is weak due to poor infrastructure and dearth of trained manpower", said retired IPS officer Prakash Singh.

Singh, former BSF chief, agreed that the paucity of fund is one of the reasons. But, he said, "Why can't Centre fund the states to recruit and train police personnel? Had the Centre been sincere enough to improve the state of policing, it would have helped the states with finance, equipments and training".

Former Union home secretary G K Pillai too emphasized on recruitment and training. He said, "We are on the right track but police recruitment and training needs a quantum boost. Though police training infrastructure has improved, the attitude towards training is still wanting. No IPS officer wants to take up a training assignment as it is considered a punishment posting".

Pitching for police reforms, Pillai -- whose tenure as home secretary had seen all big internal security projects on track - said, "Politicians need to adopt a neutral approach and not block police reforms just to retain control over the police".

Asked about the UPA government's efforts to improve security situation in the country in the past nine years, the Union minister of state for home affairs RPN Singh said, "We have taken a giant step in terms of strengthening our internal security infrastructure. As far as policing is concerned, the government has also launched Mega City Policing and Coastal Police Stations schemes".

The minister too, expressed his concerns over states' poor response on recruitment and training. He said the states should focus on their roles sincerely. He did not forget to mention how certain states had prevented setting up of a central anti-terror body NCTC.

The home ministry will during the Conference on Wednesday once again pitch for setting up the anti-terror body. Though the non-Congress ruled states are still not ready to accept the Centre's argument over the NCTC, the home minister Sushilkumar Shinde will try to convince them about the necessity of such central body to fight terrorism in a much more effective manner

Why can't states strengthen local police to fight Maoists? .... You can't fight them only with central forces

http://t.co/XIPKqnb2r2

MHA to ask Naxal-hit states’ CMs to adopt Andhra model of policing

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 3, 2013, 10.42PM IST 

NEW DELHI: With fear of Maoist violence being the key among politicians in the wake of the massacre in Chhattisgarh on May 25, the babus want government to fill police's critical infrastructural gaps to eliminate the Red Ultras.

They will ask chief ministers to adopt the Andhra Pradesh-model of policing to weed out Naxal menace and push Central ministers to spare more funds for states to achieve this goal.

Union home ministry has asked Andhra Pradesh Police to make a special presentation on this issue on Wednesday, when CMs gather here for a day-long Conference to discuss internal security situation in the country.

Asking Naxal-affected states to look beyond the Andhra's special force Greyhounds, the home ministry officials will urge the states' representatives to rather lay emphasis on strengthening basic infrastructure and human resources right from police station level to district and sub-division level like what Andhra Pradesh had done over the years that helped virtually throwing the ultras out of the state.

Officials here believe that the Greyhounds-like special force is vital, but it cannot serve the purpose unless states strengthen their basic police and intelligence apparatus.

"The states will have to get rid of the myth created around Greyhounds and be realistic as the special force alone cannot fight ultras. All affected states need special anti-Naxal force, but such structure cannot be set up on weak foundation," said an official.

He said states need to focus on police recruitment, training and intelligence gathering mechanism like what Andhra Pradesh did in Naxal-affected districts.

The ministry has earmarked two hours separate session to discuss matters concerning Naxal problem during the conference. The session, which is to be attended by CMs of all Maoist-affected states and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, will also emphasize on importance of creating other infrastructure like roads and telephone towers that are important for mobility of security forces and their communication in the Red zone.

A 20-minute presentation on role of local police stations in fighting ultras will be showcased to CMs of Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Centre is also expected to take consent from the CMs for launching an all-out anti-Red operation simultaneously in all Naxal-hit states to wipe out the extremists from their strongholds. The renewed effort is necessitated following killing of 28 people, including Congress leaders, by Maoists in Chhattisgarh on May 25.

An official said, "Simultaneous operation is needed as there is inter-border movement of Maoists. The Ultras of one state often sneak into other state during operation. Our aim is to intensify the operations with close coordination of state forces as well central forces".

Before discussing Naxal issues in a separate session, the conference will take up other key matters concerning internal security. It includes separate cadre for investigations, creation of district crime branch, community policing, mega city policing, cyber crime, modernization of state police forces, separate cadre for intelligence, setting up NCTC, coastal security, crime against women and prison reforms.