By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Tuesday hinted at a dialogue to address apprehensions of chief ministers on the proposed National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) as the resistance against the anti-terror intelligence hub continued to grow.
Government sources said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would soon write to all state chief ministers to explain the government’s stand on the NCTC, the brainchild of Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
The sources said that the home ministry was preparing a dossier on the anti-terror agency that will be forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The document is aimed at to clear all the misgivings (on the NCTC) that have been raised,” an official said.
The idea to have a centralised anti-terror agency, which will integrate and analyse inputs on terror threats in India, has been opposed to not only by the opposition ruled states but also by West Bengal governed jointly by the Trinamool Congress and the Congress.
Earlier, IT and Communication Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in Lucknow that the government was ready for a dialogue on the issue.
“If they (state chief ministers) have any concerns, there is no problem in having a dialogue…If there is any misgiving, no problem, we can have a dialogue,” Sibal said.
The opposition to the NCTC has grown with at least 13 chief ministers voicing concerns about it because it has powers that they say will infringe on the rights of states, affecting the country’s federal structure
The agency, which becomes functional March 1, has the power to make arrests or searches in terrorism-hit states without seeking permission from their governments.
On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the latest to demand talks on the raging row, did not speak for or against the NCTC but said there has been no consultation with state government over it.
“There has been no discussion between state government and the central government on the issue of NCTC,” Abdullah told reporters at an official function in a Kashmir village.
Asked if he favoured or opposed the government move to create an anti-terror intelligence hub under the union home ministry, Abdullah, who rules the state jointly with the Congress, said he wouldn’t share his views publicly.
Sibal in Lucknow said state governments would be represented by regional centers of the NCTC.
“There is a central council of NCTC. The director and three joint directors of NCTC and the heads of the anti-terrorist organisations or forces of each states are represented in it. Each state is represented. And they look after the overall activities of the NCTC. So this is the rationale of moving forward,” he said.
He said the counter-terror powers that were with the central government have been given to the agency and there was no new law that would usurp the powers of states and disturb the federal structure.