NCTC

At the internal security meeting, the government is attempting to hard sell a diluted version of the proposed anti-terror body, the National Counter Terrorism Centre or NCTC. 

What is NCTC?

The National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) is a proposed federal anti-terror agency to be created in India modelled on the National Counterterrorism Center of the USA. The proposal arose after the 2008 Mumbai attacks 26/11 attacks where several intelligence and operational failures revealed the need for a federal agency with real time intelligence inputs of actionable value specifically to counter terrorist acts against India. The proposal has however met with much criticism from the Chief Ministers of various states who see this as a means of weakening India's federalism.

After the 26/11 Mumbai attack, it was in this context that the NCTC was mooted as an apex body, a single and effective point of control for all counter terrorism measures. The NCTC is modelled on the American NCTC and Britain's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre. The model for India was mooted by the then Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, who along with the then National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan, had visited the USA in 2009 to study the functioning of the US' NCTC.

The NCTC will derive its powers from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967. It is to be a part of the Intelligence Bureau and will be headed by a Director who will report to the Director, IB and the Home Secretary. The NCTC will execute counter-terror operations and collect, collate and disseminate data on terrorism besides maintaining a data base on terrorists and their associates including their families. The NCTC has been empowered to analyse intelligence shared by agencies like the Intelligence Bureau and select what it deems suitable. It has also been granted powers to conduct searches and arrests in any part of India and will formulate responses to terror threats.

Unlike the American NCTC which deals only with strategic planning and integration of intelligence without any operational involvement or the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which too plays a purely coordinating role, the Indian agency will have not only intelligence functions but also powers to conduct operations. It is this concentration of powers that has had the states objecting to the NCTC, arguing that such sweeping powers vested in a Central agency will violate the autonomy of state governments, given that law and order is a state subject according to the Constitution. It has also been argued that given the establishment of the National Investigating Agency in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks, the establishment of an NCTC would only add to the bureaucratic tangle in intelligence sharing and counter terrorist action.

It is also argued that the nature of US and Indian federal structures differ vastly and hence suitable amendments are needed for the agency to be effective while guaranteeing the constitutional rights of the states. Some strategic experts like B. Raman of the R&AW have pointed out there are significant loopholes that can still be used in selectively targeting states for political ends. The UPA govt has stuck to its decision to set up NCTC and has promised to resolve all concerns amicably. The initial opposition to the NCTC also focused on how the agency had been empowered to search and arrest people without keeping the state government, police or anti-terror squad in the loop. The Centre has since mooted that the Directors General of Police and the chiefs of anti-terror squads of all states be made members of the Standing Council of the NCTC. These senior police officers are to be informed before the NCTC conducts an operation in their state.

Here are some key points put forward by some political leaders and where they stand on NCTC:-

Leader / Chief Minister	Their argument on NCTC
Mr. P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister (the then Home Minister who formulated NCTC –his pet project)	NCTC has been removed from the Intelligence Bureau. We have also modified some of its powers.  I deeply regret that some chief ministers oppose the NCTC even in its present form. There is no nayi-nayi (new, new) agency. We are not creating multiplicity of agencies. We are not creating multiplicity of agencies.
Ms. J. Jayalalithaa (CM, Tamil Nadu)	Centre should seek the active cooperation of all state governments as its equal partners in the fight against terrorism. The UPA Government was increasingly taking unilateral steps and creating top down structures and parallel authorities that encroach upon the constitutional domain of state governments. This is an ill-informed and counter-productive approach best illustrated by the ham-handed manner in which the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has been sought to be established. I fail to understand why the Centre persists in dealing with such a sensitive matter in such an insidious fashion, treating the state governments as though they are adversaries to be suspected rather than partners, and continues trying to establish the Counter Terrorism Centre by stealth, rather than in a spirit of co-operation and transparency and in partnership with the state governments.
Mr. Narendra Modi (CM, Gujarat)	The Prime Minister and the Home Minister did not speak on NCTC. But it was on agenda. I feel that making new institutions destabilises system.  That they talk of national security but their actions are of political security. The formation of new institutions is to serve this purpose. The Centre has no faith in state governments. I also said that the government is constantly weakening the federal structure. All states work together with the Centre but the Big Brother attitude adopted by the central government is not good. It is not clear how big it (NCTC) is going to be, what forces  are going to comprise it, how exactly it is going to function and which statute will it derive its powers from. I think such poorly conceived ideas which tinker with age old existing systems rather than strengthening them are going to do irreparable loss to our internal security apparatus. The proposed NCTC will be just another superstructure in the maze of institutions  already existing.
Mr. Siddaramaiah (CM, Karnataka)	Some safeguards are necessary before setting up the NCTC so that it is not given unbridled powers to encroach upon states' domain. As envisaged by the Union government, the National Counter-Terrorism Centre will have to involve multi-dimensional intelligence gathering and an action planning agency. Earlier efforts of containing terrorist activities by the existing organisation for intelligence networking have proved inadequate and ineffective.
Mr. Raman Singh (CM, Chhattisgarh)	We are opposed to the NCTC in its present state. We want that if the NCTC comes into existence, it should respect the federal structure of our Constitution. The participation of states in the NCTC should not get reflected only on paper. To make it effective and useful the state's role should be ratified by Parliament. In the present proposed NCTC an executive order may lead to duplication at the state level.
Mr. Prithviraj Chavan (CM, Maharashtra)	Paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 of the proposed draft order require further examination to understand the implications of these provisions on operational efficacy and clarity on respective roles in such joint operations.
Mr. Nitish Kumar (CM, Bihar)	Firstly what is the use of creating an operation division within NCTC and giving powers of conducting such operations, if such operations are to be conducted either through or in conjunction with state police

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