The Union home ministry will meet state government officials on Monday to allay concerns on the National Counter Terrroism Centre (NCTC) by explaining that the anti-terror body has been given teeth under existing provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
State government officials feel it is unlikely that any consensus will be drawn up since they will be re-iterating the objections already raised by their chief ministers. More than a dozen CMs have raised a red flag to the NCTC terming it an infringement on the federal rights of states.
The opposition by the non-Congress-ruled states on the NCTC is expected to continue till the chief minister’s conference on internal security, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, slated in April. The meeting convened by the Union home ministry is expected to take place on April 16.
The Opposition and other political parties, meanwhile, are preparing to corner the government on ‘’regional and federal issues’’ by raising the NCTC issue during the Budget Session of Parliament beginning Monday.
Interestingly, all states have confirmed participation for Monday’s meet to the home ministry which has extended invitations to chief secretaries, home secretaries, DGPs and IGPs. Government officials also conceded that they do not expect any ‘’turn around’’ in the state governments’ stand on the NCTC issue immediately. The meeting will be chaired by Union home secretary R.K. Singh.