A conclave of Chief Ministers, scheduled to be held in the national capital on Tuesday, will mainly consist of a hold "focussed discussion" on combating terrorism and attempt to evolve a strategy to improve intelligence sharing between states in a well coordinated manner.
Speaking to the media Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said the idea was to "have a focussed discussion on terrorism and how the states and the Centre can join and share intelligence."
The meeting, to be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, assumes significance as it comes in wake of the Mumbai terror strikes and the subsequent efforts initiated by the Centre to add muscle to the country’s response to terror.
Terming intelligence sharing the only preventive mechanism available, Gupta said the day-long meeting would mull over preemptive actions to be taken at the state level and how best the Centre could assist them in terms of money, manpower and weaponry.
Gupta informed that the Centre was prepared to increase the budget for police modernisation in states, he cautioned that the central funds should not be wasted on police housing projects but be used for priority needs like weaponry.
The Home Secretary said tomorrow's exercise will be followed by a meeting of chief ministers of seven states badly affected by the Naxal violence, termed as the single biggest threat to internal security.
Need for increasing police strength, setting up of a specialised police force and the issue of improving coastal security would also be discussed, he said.
The Centre is also expected to urge the states to fill up the over 1.3 lakh vacant police posts across the country apart fro stressing the need for involving the community to fillip the intelligence gathering mechanism.
Speaking to the media Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said the idea was to "have a focussed discussion on terrorism and how the states and the Centre can join and share intelligence."
The meeting, to be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, assumes significance as it comes in wake of the Mumbai terror strikes and the subsequent efforts initiated by the Centre to add muscle to the country’s response to terror.
Terming intelligence sharing the only preventive mechanism available, Gupta said the day-long meeting would mull over preemptive actions to be taken at the state level and how best the Centre could assist them in terms of money, manpower and weaponry.
Gupta informed that the Centre was prepared to increase the budget for police modernisation in states, he cautioned that the central funds should not be wasted on police housing projects but be used for priority needs like weaponry.
The Home Secretary said tomorrow's exercise will be followed by a meeting of chief ministers of seven states badly affected by the Naxal violence, termed as the single biggest threat to internal security.
Need for increasing police strength, setting up of a specialised police force and the issue of improving coastal security would also be discussed, he said.
The Centre is also expected to urge the states to fill up the over 1.3 lakh vacant police posts across the country apart fro stressing the need for involving the community to fillip the intelligence gathering mechanism.
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