New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra on Tuesday suggested creating a separate Ministry out of the Home Ministry to handle security related issues along with a separate cadre of specialised officers to man it.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was present on the occassion, welcomed the suggestion of a separate cadre of officers but remained silent about the specialised Ministry.
In his key note address on the seventh NIA Day, Vohra said to tackle situations like Pathankot attack, a dedicated pool of officers having expertise in various aspects of national security should be created and be named as National Security Administrative Service.
He said he had proposed during the first NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee the creation of a separate ministry of National Security out of the Home Ministry to be led by leaders like Rajnath Singh and manned by specialists of National Security Administrative Service.
Later in his address, Rajnath Singh said Vohra has given a welcome suggestion of raising a cadre of National Security Administrative Services to handle security related matter. "I will discuss the matter soon," he said.
Terming terrorism as a global menace, Singh said India will stand by any alliance of countries which is ready to take on this challenge.
"Terrorism is not only a challenge for this country but a global challenge. India stands with countries who are ready to accept this challenge. India is part of every treaty in this regard," he said.
The Home Minister said the country has faced many challenges including from foreign invaders but has always maintained its sovereignity and unity.
"However, difficult the challenges may be now, no one will be able to put a question mark over country's unity and soverignity. I can assure you that," he said.
Lauding the role of NIA, Singh said the agency has performed its duties in a professional manner. "I have information (that) prosecution success rate is 95 per cent and 92 per cent conviction rate. Excellent. But I feel that NIA like organisation needs more manpower. Many offices are yet to set up. Once offices are complete, the NIA's efficiency will certainly increase," he said.
Earlier speaking on the occasion, NIA Director Sharad Kumar said NIA is probing cases pertain to Jehadi terror, northeast insurgent groups, fake currency, terror financing and Left wing extremism.
"The investigations into these cases require persistent efforts by dedicated team of investigators to piece together diverse threads of deep rooted conspiracies which many a times are spread across various states and several countries," he said, cautioning that threats to our security from local and trans-national terrorists still linger.
"I can assure all of you that the NIA will continue to work in an efficient fashion in detecting and prosecuting terrorism related offences, but will also deter and prevent such crimes through efficient and professional investigations," he said.
Vohra noted that while tackling terror attacks, like the one in Pathankot, standard operating procedures should be strictly followed and duties of police, paramilitary, specialised forces and army should be well defined.
The Governor said the authority should be clear so that security forces do not waste time in getting on to action. He said whenever such attacks take place trained people handling various aspects of investigation should be brought together who can analyse every piece of information pouring in from different quarters.
"No counter terror agency can deliver if the first line of defence i.e state police fails to respond," Vohra said. He said continuous political interference lowers the morale of state police.
Vohra said state governments oppose NIA from taking over cases and at times the probe is given after "prolonged delays" when local police has already filed charge sheet.
He advocated that agencies like NIA should be allowed to take suo moto take cognisance of terror cases and suggested that changes in the legal process should be made to avoid such hindrances.
The Governor said that such situations can be prevented if leaders like the Home Minister calls the concerned Chief Ministers and convince them about shifting of the case. Vohra said that it was imperative to institute a Nationwide Security Framework policy since the internal and external security aspects were closely intertwined.
He called for framing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for tackling internal security threats in which the state police forces, being the first baseline response agency, have a vital role to play.
"The MHA should make efforts to ensure that cases related to terrorism are handed over to NIA without delay," he said.
