No major strike in '09 but challenges remain for Home Min

I / New Delhi December 30, 2009, 15:05 IST

In the shadow of 26/11, the Home Ministry took measured steps to bring changes in the complex intelligence-security system during 2009 that saw India pass through without any major terror attack and it could be in for some reforms in the new year if P Chidambaram has his way.

While the focus was on terror, especially the one that comes from across the border, the Ministry has also been pro-active on dealing with what the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls the single biggest internal security challenge -- Left Wing Extremism.

Home Minister Chidambaram, who stepped into the Ministry in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, may be attributing the absence of major terrorist strikes to "some luck" but that cannot take away the significance of the toning up the working of the intelligence agencies and other security apparatus.

 

As the year was wrapping up, Chidambaram announced the proposal to set up a National Centre for Counter Terrorism (NCTC) which will start functioning from the later part of the new year. 

While Kashmir continued to see a decline in militancy-related activities besides a successful completion of assembly and Parliamentary elections, Maoists remained a constant threat for the nation.