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Publication: Rediff.com
Date: June 5, 2013
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/chouhan-on-nctc-row-doesnt-centre-believe-state-police/20130605.htm

Accusing the Centre of taking unilateral decisions on internal security matters, Madhya Pradesh  Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Wednesday strongly opposed the proposed anti-terror body NCTC citing practical difficulties.

"I regret to say that despite all round opposition, the central government is bent upon setting up NCTC. Of course certain amendments have been made in the proposed new order, still they do not resolve the practical difficulties.

"Again I would like to suggest that the Centre should limit its role to intelligence collection, analysis and exchange and all other actions pertaining to operations should be left out to state police. Does the central government not trust the state police?," he asked while speaking at the chief ministers' conference on internal security in New Delhi .

Noting that the country was facing the twin threats of left wing extremism and terrorism, which were weakening the democratic set up and the Constitution, Chouhan sought support from the Centre to provide more financial resources to strengthen internal security mechanism in the state.

In the present perspective, left wing extremism, terrorism, crimes against women, organized crimes and corruption are the most formidable challenges before the nation.

"All these adversely affect the internal security of the country directly or indirectly. People's expectations from the government are growing to put an effective curb on these threats.

"This is the right time that Centre and state governments should work in tandem with complete dedication to meet these challenges successfully," the CM of the BJP ruled state said.

Chouhan charged that the Centre hesitates to consult state governments on major policy decisions.

"I regret to say that despite the need to work collectively, the central government often seems to be unwilling to take the state governments into confidence on formulation of policies on issues vis-à-vis internal security.

"As I have already pointed out in the previous meeting that at times the central government seems to hesitate to consult the state governments before framing new laws. Does the central government have no faith in the democratically elected state governments?," Chouhan asked.

He said the central government was continuously playing with the federal structure, which was against the spirit of our Constitution.

“If the central government thinks in the larger interest of the nation by rising above party politics then it should take up the work of strengthening the state governments and their institutions engaged in dealing with terrorism and Naxalism, on a large scale and regular basis.

The spirit of cooperation and consultation should be kept above everything else," he said.

For effective action against terrorist activities and organised crimes, the Madhya Pradesh state assembly has sent the 'Madhya Pradesh Terrorist and Disruptive Activities and Organized Crime Control Bill 2010' to the Centre for sanction, but its approval was still awaited, the CM said.

Chouhan said the states were struggling with shortage of force and financial resources and asked help from the Centre to fight Naxalism and terrorism.

He termed the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh as a massive attack on the democratic system and said the Centre has "failed" to come up with any clear-cut policy to combat Left Wing extremism.

He said the psychological publicity war has yielded positive results in Naxal-hit areas. "The central government also considers this publicity war as an important measure against Naxalism. However, there is need to further intensify it," the CM said seeking for more support from the Centre in this regard.

At present, prevention of crimes against women is one of the major challenges before us, Chouhan said.

"Providing security to women and preventing crimes against them has been our priority, for which a Woman Crime Branch has been set up at the Police Headquarters from June 2012 and in every district a Women Cell under the control of a gazetted officer has been set up," he said.

The CM expressed surprise that agenda notes sent for this conference state that Madhya Pradesh has been placed in the category of those states where incidents of communal violence have increased in year 2012.

"This is not true. I would like to assert that Madhya Pradesh has not witnessed any communal riot in last 5 years and no increase in incidents of communal violence was registered in year 2012.

"My government is committed to providing full security to followers of all religions and our political will and administrative efficacy in this regard is known to all," he said.