'The best source of intelligence is the local police'

Excerpts from P Chidambaram's address to Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security

The key to raising the level of preparedness is gathering and sharing intelligence. One of the first tasks that I undertook was to re-establish and empower the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) created in 2001 to deal with all matters concerning intelligence pertaining to terrorism. As you are aware, beginning January 1, 2009, the MAC has begun to function on a 24x7 basis and is now legally obliged to share intelligence with all other agencies, including agencies of the governments, states and Union Territories.

Having established MAC, the next question is: what are the sources of intelligence? Intelligence is gathered by a number of agencies — some are located within the defence forces, some are at the borders, and many are in different parts of India. They rely on both human intelligence and technical intelligence. Their contribution is valuable.

Nevertheless, I wish to say that the best source of intelligence still remains the local police station and friends of the local police. As seasoned administrators, you will agree with me that nothing of consequence can happen within the jurisdiction of a police station without the knowledge of the Station House Officer. All of us recognise this fact, but I regret to draw your attention to another fact, namely, that the vacancies as on August 31, 2007 wereconstables:1,13,779; sub-inspectors:18,654; and DySPs:2,099.

I sincerely hope that the position has improved since August 2007. Keeping the local police station at the centre of the intelligence gathering machinery, we must find a way in which the intelligence can be made to flow seamlessly — and in real time — to the district headquarters, state capital and the national capital. Equally, in the reverse direction, intelligence must flow from the national capital to the state capital, the district headquarters and the local police station.

Many state governments have already taken up plans to provide such connectivity. On your part, I would urge you to strengthen the intelligence gathering function of the police station. There must be at least one person of the rank of Head Constable or an Assistant Sub-Inspector who is exclusively charged with this responsibility — and is burdened with no other work. Besides, the Special Branch must be strengthened and adequate number of Special Branch personnel must be posted in the districts and major towns.

Under the Modernisation of Police Forces Scheme, there is a component to enhance the capacity of the Special Branch of the state police, and I would request you to implement the agreed plans expeditiously.

Our second goal should be to enhance the speed and decisiveness of the response mechanism to terrorist threats or terrorist attacks. This requires specially trained police personnel and advanced equipment. The Central government proposes to set up hubs of the National Security Guard(NSG) in different parts of the country. To begin with, hubs will be set up in four cities. Some other cities will be covered by a trained anti-terrorist force provided by the defence forces — for example, Bengaluru will be covered by the Army. In course of time, NSG hubs will be set up in more centres. The speed and decisiveness of the response mechanism would also depend upon the equipment that is provided to the anti-terrorist force. Hence, it is important to invest in the latest equipment and technology. It would also be necessary to put in place a clear command structure in the case of a terrorist threat or a terrorist attack. All these aspects must be spelt out

Our response to terrorism cannot be reactive. There is ample evidence that many terrorist modules have burrowed their way into the country. We must adopt a proactive approach to apprehend these people and thwart any possible terrorist threat.

(Excerpts from Home Minister P Chidambaram’s address to Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security, New Delhi, January 6 2009)