Home affairs: Sharpen intel operations, go after weak IM and box in Naxals

The Union home ministry has become flabby over time. Yet it's a key ministry -the one which was manned by Sardar Patel.

Lately, ministers here have often been the most "safe" rather than the most efficient men. Initiatives such as the proposed centralized anti-terror agency, National Counter Terrorism Centre, and the anti-riots Bill have languished due to the UPA's failure to get the states on board. The new government proposes to make better Centre-state coordination a top priority.

According to the home ministry's own brief, its shortcomings have been gaps between collection and collation/analysis of intelligence, reduced focus on the National Population Register (NPR), and a low ratio of combat-ready personnel in a paramilitary company to its non-combat component. All these are affecting the nation al effort to counter national scourges like home-grown terror and Naxalism. The ministry's top priorities are: Eliminate Indian Mujahideen (IM) as a foremost goal of the counter-terrorism strategy. Recent arrests of its leaders have weakened the organization. Now is the time for concerted action to root it out.

While there's always a political angle to violent movements like Naxalism, the ministry must limit Naxalites' arc of influence with coordinated action, better intelligence, improved teeth-to-tail ratio in Central forces and political initiatives.

Similar holistic approach would help take forward the peace process with Ulfa and NSCN(I-M).

Focus needs to be brought back on NPR (which suffered due to duplication with Aadhaar). A reliable database on the citizenry would help tackle issues such as illegal immigration.

The new government would like a return of migrants to J&K. This isn't an easy job as only a sense of security can trigger the process of return migration. For that, the situation in J&K will have to ease up which will require both political and security initiatives.

The other initiatives would include refurbishing the Inter State Council and Zonal Councils, revamping intelligence agencies, use of technology for security operations, reforming the criminal justice system and police reforms which have been pending for long. Streamlining the visa process would also be a priority if the government is to make tourism a high priority.