NCTC Row: PM Directs Home Ministry to Address Issue
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has directed the Home Ministry to address the concerns of Indian states over the National Counter Terrorism Centre infringing the rights of states. He made it clear that the principal idea of creating the NCTC was “to coordinate counter-terrorism efforts throughout the country” on similar lines as handled by the Intelligence Bureau. The implementing of NCTC has raked up a political storm amidst non Congress states, including allies of UPA.
Chief Ministers of seven states: Gujarat, Odisha, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, who have registered their protest against the NCTC will be addressed by Home Minister P Chidambaram. “In forming the NCTC, it is not the Government’s intent in any way to affect the basic features of the Constitutional provisions and allocation of powers between the States and the Union…….. asking the Home Minister to address them suitably, in consultation with you and other Chief Ministers,” said Dr. Manmohan Singh. “It is for this reason that the NCTC has been located within the IB and not as a separate organization,” wrote Manmohan Singh to the Chief Ministers of the states that have registered their protest.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry will be asked to stay its decision in setting up the NCTC by a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by Venkaiah Naidu, BJP. The move comes following a request put forth by V Maitreyan of AIADMK in raising the issue. Following this, the government was repeatedly flayed by various members of opposition parties for taking a decision that undermined the rights of states.
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