A 27-page agenda paper the Home Ministry has sent to Chief Ministers ahead of Tuesday’s meeting notes that human intelligence has got “considerably eroded” with an “increasing reliance on TechINT, which, although extremely and crucially important in its own place and requiring incremental development of capabilities, can never be a substitute for the former.”

The paper calls for the revival of the beat constable system, and urges state governments to develop domain intelligence by harnessing human resources within the community. Under the head of ‘Preventive Measures and Security Arrangements’, the Government has asked state police forces to carry out detailed security audits of soft targets like malls, multiplexes, hotels, hospitals and mass rapid transit systems with the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureaus in their states.

A key suggestion is to set up Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) teams to deal with terrorist situations. “Such teams would have the capability of rapid mobilisation, deployment and would have specialised weaponry, training, communications and protective devices.”

The Government has also decided that at least two companies in each of the 134 India Reserve Battalions would now have a commando component. A sum of Rs 6 crore has been approved per battalion.

At the heart of the proposal to enhance the internal security and intelligence apparatus is the December 31, 2008 order defining the role and power of the MAC under the Director, Intelligence Bureau. The order says: “It is necessary and expedient to establish a centre to counter terrorism and terrorist threats and bring under one body all matters relating to gathering, analysis and sharing of intelligence pertaining to terrorism, and devising strategies to vacate the threat.”

The Centre has informed Chief Ministers that subsidiary centres would be opened in all states, and that it is imperative that all data and intelligence inputs are forwarded to it.

The decision to redefine the powers of the MAC, originally set up on the recommendation of the Kargil Committee through a December 6, 2001 order, was taken in view of the agency’s failure to live up to its objectives and expectations. “While a (terrorist) database has been built, other aims of MAC have not been achieved; practically no data related to terrorist activities are received from the Central and state security forces and agencies.”

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission had, in its June 2008 report, recommended that the MAC should be converted into National Centre for Counter-Terrorism.

The agenda paper carries detailed briefs on the Centre’s initiatives on intelligence, preventive measures, human capabilities to counter terrorism, investigation and prosecution, and coastal security.

ON THE AGENDA

• The Centre will urge state governments to make security amongst their top-most priorities and work in a cohesive manner to improve the overall security environment of the country

• Though the focus will be on terrorism and specific steps which are required to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks, many of the issues that the states needed to address were structural in nature like increasing the number of police personnel, improving their efficiency by providing better weaponry and other equipments, better collection and sharing of intelligence

• The Centre will inform the states about the measures that it had taken in the wake of Mumbai attacks, especially those related to the overhaul of the intelligence gathering mechanism and coastal security

• The states would also be encouraged to take the benefit of a number of schemes under which they are entitled for central financial assistance for security-related measures

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also address the meeting which will be attended by Defence Minister A K Antony and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, besides the Home Minister