Inter-state coastal co-ordination soon

NEW DELHI: Even as the Centre prepares to put up the coastal command proposal before the Cabinet, it will be urging chief ministers of nine coastal states to activate or energise state-level co-ordination committees on coastal matters, headed by the chief secretary and comprising representatives of related departments like fisheries, ports and shipping, coastal police and Central agencies like CISF guarding ports.

Stating that there are already existing mechanisms in some of the states for coastal co-ordination, a senior MHA official said that the Centre would emphasise on activating them in all the coastal states for better synergy at the state level. This, in turn, would supplement the proposed coastal command���s efforts to secure the coastline.

Among the other issues likely to dominate the meeting of chief ministers on internal security here on Tuesday are improvement of intelligence gathering capabilities by strengthening the special branches of the state police and creation of subsidiary multi agency centres (SMACs) in all states, prioritisation of areas for spending the police modernisation funds allocated by the Centre and augmenting police strength through filling up of existing vacancies.

���The whole idea of calling this meeting is to focus on all immediate issues relating to terrorism and the required response...it is a forum for the states to put forth their views on the various anti-terror measures, including legislative one, taken in the last one month, and offer their suggestions on what needs to be done further,��� shared an MHA official.

The chief ministers��� meet will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will make an inaugural address as well as offer his concluding remarks. This is the first such interaction following the UPA���s efforts to sharpen the offensive against terror in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai strikes.

Given the increased vulnerability of metros to urban terrorism, the Centre will discuss with the state governments
separate budgeting for upgrading the surveillance and policing capabilities in the 7 cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Sources said the MHA was looking at the idea of creating a sub-component on city policing within the police modernisation scheme. The chief ministers would be asked to come up with well-conceived plans so that the Centre could offer dedicated financial assistance for securing the metros.

On police modernisation funds, the Centre will ask the states to prioritise spending so that they can be utilised for weapons upgrade, improved police mobility and procurement of better surveillance equipment and anti-terror gear, rather than being diverted to construction of housing and other buildings for police use.

The states will be briefed on the initiative to set up the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and may be consulted on staffing of the agency.