Home Secretary's suggestion to bureaucrats to be independent criticized

New Delhi, Mar 13 (ANI): The reported remark by the Union Home ecretary "Don't be CMs' stenographers" at the meeting of chief secretaries and Director General's of Police to discuss the National Counter Terrorism Centre has been criticized by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Senior BJP leader Balbir Punj said the remarks made by the Home Secretary represented the mindset of the ruling Congress Party, which has been hitting hard at the federal character of the Indian democracy.

"This represents the mindset of the UPA-II, which has been hitting hard at the federal character of the Indian democracy. This sort of a approach is totally contrary to the spirit of the Constitution," Punj told the media outside the Parliament here.

"We condemn it . To suggest that the bureaucrats in the states should not listen to the elected representatives, their chief ministers are ministers, is virtually asking them to disregard the people of the respective state and trying to run the administration from here with the help of bureaucrats," he added.

Meamwhile, another BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the motive behind this statement, saying that this was an attempt to instigate differences between the state officials and their elected representatives.

"We are very hurt and we condemn this statement of the Home Secretary in a meeting with various state officials, who came to discuss the matter of NCTC, in which he called them a 'stenographer of their ministers'. What kind of a statement is this? Are they trying to ignite a feud between the state officials and elected ministers?" asked Prasad.

"Even we want militancy to decline, but in order to finish militancy the Central Government needs to work with state governments. But I think the government is keen on snatching the powers of the states rather than working with them," he added.

The main task of the NCTC would be to ensure that a wide variety of security organizations in the country work in tandem, at least on issues related to terrorism.

It will also have the power to seek information, including documents, reports, transcripts, and cyber information from any agency, including from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency, National Technical Research Organization, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and all seven central armed police forces including the National Security Guard (NSG).

The body, which will function under the Intelligence Bureau, would be given its own operational wing with powers to arrest and conduct searches under Section 43A of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. (ANI)