MHA pitches for better Centre-state coordination

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry has proposed revival of the Inter-State Council and Zonal Council meetings as the primary forum for discussing and resolving Centre-state issues. The suggestion, included as a priority area in the MHA presentation to be put up to Narendra Modi after he takes over as PM, stems from an acknowledgement within the ministry that UPA proposals like NCTC and the Communal Violence Bill ran into stiff opposition from chief ministers primarily due to lack of coordination with state governments.

Incidentally, the MHA presentation — listing its past achievements, gaps and misses, vision and low-hanging fruits - has skipped any reference to either the NCTC or the pending anti-riots bill.

While the full Inter-State Council, chaired by the PM, comprises all state chief ministers and a few Union ministers, the standing committee of the Inter-State Council is a smaller body made up of Union ministers and chief ministers of a few states.

The Inter-State Council is normally supposed to meet once a year, but the standing committee may meet more often, to consider issues with federal implications. The zonal councils address issues related to states within a specific region. Though the Inter-State Council had been meeting regularly under the previous NDA regime, the mechanism remained near defunct under UPA.

The MHA presentation mentions the recent arrests of Indian Mujahideen leaders as a key feat, but outlines the elimination of IM as the foremost goal of its future counter-terrorism strategy. Revamp of intelligence agencies and operations, reforming the criminal justice system, limiting Naxalites' arc of influence and minimising force casualties, improved combat capabilities of the central forces in terms of manpower and equipment and taking the peace process with various north-eastern insurgent outfits to its logical conclusion are also part of the home ministry's vision for the coming years.

Among the gaps mentioned is the diminished focus on the National Population Register (NPR) exercise on account of "avoidable duplication" with the UIDAI's Aadhaar scheme. Also, gaps in intelligence gathering and collation have been highlighted as a possible area for redress by the next government.

The MHA presentation lists its new draft policy on security clearances, which proposes disposal of applications in a time-bound and transparent manner while eliminating room for discretion, among the low-hanging fruits that can be immediately operationalised.