National Intelligence Grid Of India In Doldrums

National intelligence grid (Natgrid) is a pilot project of Home Ministry of India. Natgrid has been launched to tackle growing terrorist attacks and terrorism cases in India. Besides, Natgrid can also be used to prevent serious crimes and cyber crimes.

Natgrid project is accompanies by national counter terrorism centre (NCTC) of India. However, till now neither Natgrid nor NCTC has been able to see the light of the day. Bureaucratic hurdles and lack of proper planning is the main reason why these crucial projects are not even able to take a start.

After 26/11, India vowed it would never be caught napping again and the ambitious idea of National Intelligence Grid was born. It was widely believed to be Home Minister P. Chidambaram's visionary plan, a powerful real-time 24X7 networking of 21 databases to stitch all information and raise alarm. It has now been almost two years and there is no sign of any implementation of Natgrid project.

There seems to be two main reasons for non functional Natgrid and NCTC projects. The first is the fear that Home Ministry would become all powerful Ministry to deal with intelligence related works. If sensitive information is left at the disposal of Home Ministry other Ministries may not like the idea. Further, this is the reason why NCTC project has not moved an inch forward.

The second reason for the failure of Natgrid and NCTC projects is absence of privacy, data security and data protection safeguards in these projects. In a zeal to deal with terrorism related cases, Home Minister P Chidambaram ignored the civil liberties requirements altogether. To make the matter worst we have no e-surveillance policy in India and our intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies are practically governed by no law and without any Parliamentary oversight. Thus, fears of privacy violations have also plagued Natgrid and NCTC projects.

Although the intentions of Home Ministry are good yet they have not been executed in a planned and coordinated manner. In these circumstances the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) may not clear these much needed projects. I wish the Home Ministry would take care of all these issues so that both Natgrid and NCTC may be operational in India.

Indian Centre For Communication Security Research and Monitoring (CCSRM)

An Indian centre for communication security research and monitoring (CCSRM) was proposed by the Union Cabinet in the past. The Department of Telecommunication (DOT) was asked to do the needful in this regard. The DOT came up with the proposal of establishment of Central Monitoring System (CMS) that can help security agencies and law enforcement agencies in intercepting mobile phone calls and monitor internet traffic.

None can doubt about the utility of a CMS or CCSRM. However, there are many technical, administrative and legal issues that have to be addressed before implementing either CMS or CCSRM.

On the technical side, intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies of India need to develop skills for intelligence gathering and their analysis. If we keep in mind the latest development, it can be assumed that services of Blackberry, Gmail, Skype, etc would not be banned in India for some more time. Naturally, their highly encrypted services would continue in India that intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies of India cannot monitor unless they are skilled enough to do so.

On the legal side, in India intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies are practically governed by no law. Even the constitutional validity of national investigation agency act, 2008 is still doubtful. Further, India does not have a constitutionally sound lawful interception law. Phone tapping in India is still done in an unconstitutional manner and at times by private individuals as well.

On the administrative side, the intelligence infrastructure of India is in big mess. There seems to be a tussle between various Ministries of Indian government and this is preventing the successful implementation of various projects like national intelligence grid (Natgrid), crime and criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS), national counter terrorism centre (NCTC), central monitoring system (CMS), etc.

However, nothing is more offensive than an absence of Parliamentary oversight of intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies and projects like Natgrid, CCTNS, NCTC, CMS, etc.

Fortunately, our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is taking interest in these projects and he has recently has sought clarifications on the upcoming CCSRM system. I hope the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Union Cabinet and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) would bring some order in the otherwise chaosed world of intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies of India.