Vicky Nanjappa on the challenges before the new home minister.
Many in the establishment say that Rajnath Singh is a strong candidate, and more importantly, close to the prime minister. This is very essential since the prime minister and the home minister cannot become two individual power centres as this hampers the entire cause.
Several teams part of the security set-up are already on the job to assist the new home minister undertake the job. Singh will hold meetings with the primary security agencies, and discuss the various issues facing the country. Top on their priority would be to give more teeth to the National Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council.
An officer with the Intelligence Bureau says that there is a positive vibe. “The new regime is not trying to strike down the decisions taken by the previous government. They will try to better what their predecessors had done, and introduce new reforms to improve the system if the need arises.”
The tasks on hand
- An NIA official informs that they will discuss how the organisation could be given more teeth to function effectively. The message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi is clear -- no pulling punches while dealing with terror and no red tape when it comes to dealing with a crisis situation.
- During the discussions among the heads of the security agencies, lack of coordination was found to be the major concern. Intelligence was being collected, but there was no effective body to study it while coordinating with the state agencies and then deciding on whether the same was actionable or not.
- It is not just the terror threat that Singh will have to deal with, but the Naxals as well. While former home minister P Chidambaram had empowered the Central Reserve Police Force to handle the issue, but they lacked coordination with the state police force which has the first access to the local intelligence. Singh will have to address this issue.
- Singh will have to find a way to strengthen the NSC, and bring all the agencies under one roof so that they are able to coordinate.
- Singh will also need to take into account the desperate attempts by the Students Islamic Movement of India to revive itself in Kerala. Several officers from the Centre have complained about the complete lack of cooperation by the local police there who are allegedly under the influence of politicians. The IB would want a bigger force in such states where Islamic terrorism is a threat.
- While there are other issues such as Article 370 and also the Uniform Civil Code which will be debated by the home ministry, the path ahead for the establishment of the National Intelligence Grid is also one of the many challenges, since this would form the backbone of intelligence sharing.
- With sparks flying between the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Singh will have to ensure that the security situation is under control when Telangana comes into existence on June 2.
- There is also an additional issue about law and order in Hyderabad. As per the agreement, Hyderabad would be a common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years, with law and order be under the control of the Union government. Singh is not expected to interfere too much, but would have to be very wary, owing to tensions between the people of Seemandhra and Telangana, and the fact that the would-be government there is adamant to handle the law and order situation by itself.
“In the previous regime, some members of the security forces felt that there was no clarity on whom to report in a crisis situation since there were several power centres. Now, In the case of a terror strike, all chiefs would report to the prime minister within 30 minutes, and he would then assess the situation in the presence of the home minister,” the officer surmises.
Image: Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Photograph: Vijay Mathur/Reuters
