Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday stressed the need for a "proactive" approach to root out threats emanating from "potential" terrorists operating in the country in a clandestine manner.

"Our response to terrorism cannot be reactive. There is ample evidence that many terrorist modules have burrowed their way into the country. There are also many sleeper cells.

"We must adopt a proactive approach to apprehend these people and thwart any possible terrorist threat. In this regard, too, the key is gathering and sharing intelligence and responding in a coordinated manner to apprehend the potential terrorist," Chidambaram said while addressing the Conference of Chief Ministers on internal security in Delhi.

He asked the chief ministers to put in place a clear command structure in the case of a terrorist threat or attack.

"There must be no ambiguity or confusion about who is in-charge ...All aspects must be spelt out clearly and made known to the state police department as well as other forces that may be requisitioned in the case of a terrorist threat or a terrorist attack," he said.

The home minister asked the chief ministers to strengthen the intelligence gathering function at the ground level (police station) in their respective states.

"There must be at least one person of the rank of the head constable or an assistant sub-inspector who is exclusively charged with this (intelligence gathering) responsibility – and is burdened with no other work," he said.

"Besides the Special Branch must be strengthened and adequate number of Special Branch personnel must be posted in districts and major towns," Chidambaram said.

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