Row over NCTC will be resolved, says P Chidambaram

BANGALORE: The Centre was addressing two issues over which some states have opposed the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and the row would be resolved, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said.

A majority of state chief ministers had accepted NCTC and some other chief ministers have reservations over two issues saying it would infringe upon the states' powers, he told reporters here.

"Some chief ministers have flagged two points. One - Why the NCTC is located in the intelligence bureau and two - why it should be empowered with Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," he said.

Chidambaram said the government was addressing these two issues and a paper had been sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security and confident that all the chief ministers would be brought on board.

"Even Naresh Chandra Committee has categorically stated NCTC is imperative and we needed it in this country," he said.

The centre's move has run into trouble after various non-Congress chief ministers including Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Narendra Modi of Gujarat, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, an ally of UPA, have opposed it.

On the maoists issue, Chidambaram said the CPI (Maoists) leadership's grip over the cadres had loosened and "they do not enforce the kind of discipline they claim to".

"Like any other militant organisation, the CPI (Maoist) organisation is showing signs of stress and therefore all these atrocities are being committed," he said.

Chidambaram said it was "notorious" that women were being recruited as CPI Maoists cadre and exploited. The UN report showed that children had also been recruited.