SECURITY
5. VARIOUS SECURITY FORCES AND AGENCIES AND
THEIR MANDATE
Q 4. What are your views on the efficacy of India’s security intelligence establishment? Substantiate your
views.
The major intelligence agencies currently operating in the country and their mandate include-
Intelligence Bureau(IB) – The Intelligence Bureau specialised agency used to garner intelligence from
within India and also execute counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism tasks.
Counter-intelligence refers to information gathered and activities conducted to protect against espionage,
other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers,
organizations or persons or international terrorist activities, but not including personnel, physical, document
or communications security programs.
Counter-terrorism tasks include political or military activities designed to prevent or thwart terrorism thereby
giving a wide remit to the agency.
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) – A specialised, independent agency dedicated to foreign intelligence
gathering.
Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)- Deals with the Collection, analysis and dissemination of
information on cybersecurity incidents.
Directorate of Enforcement (DE)- An economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws
and fighting economic crime in India.
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)- A major intelligence agency which enforces the prohibition of
the smuggling of items including drugs, gold, diamonds, electronics, foreign currency, and counterfeit Indian
currency.
Intelligence units of different states with different mandates. For example, Maharashtra intelligence unit is
concerned with organised crime and smuggling activities while north-eastern states also have to deal with
secessionist movements.
Concerns about the existing intelligence network:
The changing nature of threats emanating from the Cyberspace and social media like ISIS using secure
communications networks to further its propaganda and recruit people online which cannot be tackled
through the traditional setup.
A chronic shortage of specialised personnel coupled with the inefficient use of human resources. Take for
instance the IB, a major portion of its human resources gets diverted doing daily police work like
verifications, something that the agency claims it does not do any better than the police forces.
, Intelligence Agencies with different mandates, often overlapping each other’s, sometimes leading to
duplication of efforts and non-cooperation between agencies. For Ex: The mandates of RAW and IB with
respect to organised crimes like smuggling.
Intelligence collection is ad-hoc in the absence of clear-cut requirements from the consumers of intelligence.
Poor cadre management and inability to recruit qualified language specialists and technical skills.
Lack of intellectual capacity and investment in the education system exacerbate recruitment shortfalls in
intelligence agencies. Engaging private players for specialist tasks is therefore necessary.
Agencies suffer from a chronic shortage of military expertise.
Lack of a comprehensive national-level database of suspected individuals. Initiatives like NATGRID are yet
to take off due to differences over data sharing between the centre and states.
Failure to act swiftly over the gathered intelligence by the enforcement agencies due to doubts over the
credibility of the data, a fact which came to light post the Pathankot airbase attacks.
The country’s inability in ending various armed conflicts, be it Naga insurgency or other northern
movements or Kashmir militancy exposing the fault lines in our intelligence establishment. Neighbouring
countries such as Pakistan and China also have a role in fomenting these movements.
The inability of the police forces to prevent communal violence and growing fundamentalism in many
instances like the Muzaffarnagar violence, which is mainly due to the failure of the traditional intelligence
networks.
Lack of parliamentary statute failing to enforce accountability in intelligence agencies.
The National Cyber Security Policy which aimed at creating a skilled workforce of 5,00,000 professionals to
tackle the growing cyber-attacks fails to suggest ways to create such a talent pool.
Lack of political attention and effective guidance has prevented reform and optimal functioning of the
intelligence system.
The absence of the Chief OfDefence staff has hampered the coordination between the military and other
intelligence agencies.
Way forward:
Intelligence agencies need to anticipate threats in advance to prevent and mitigate possible security breaches.
The states must rise above politics in matters of national security to implement crucial initiatives like
NATGRID and NCTC.
A comprehensive law bringing intelligence agencies under parliamentary scrutiny will help in delineating
functions of different agencies and enforce accountability to the legislature rather than the present ad-hocism.
The Central Government should take active steps to ensure interagency, interstate and centre-state
cooperation to plug the information gaps.
While the revenue outlays have been increasing, the capital outlays have seen troughs and crests in the last
four years. Hence, expenditure on expanding manpower has to be balanced by commensurate expenditure on
infrastructure like training schools, forensic laboratories, procuring additional vehicles etc.
The National Cyber Security Policy has to be strengthened to address the skill gap and develop cutting
, edge/bleeding edge technologies in the upcoming fields of big data and data analytics to detect early patterns
of crime and effectively prevent it.
PUBLIC ORDER
Maintenance of public order and the rule of law is a key sovereign function of the State, as important in its own
way as defending the nation from external aggression or maintaining the unity and integrity of the nation State.
The eminent jurist, Locke, put it succinctly, “wherever law ends, tyranny begins” - Locke
At Independence, Sardar Patel envisaged quite a different role for the police in independent India. He observed,
“You have served the previous regime under different conditions. The people then had a different attitude to you,
but the reasons for that attitude have now vanished. Now the time has come when you can secure the affection and
regard of the people.”
Some Grave Public Order Problems
1. Communalism in a broad sense implies blind allegiance to one’s own communal group – religious, linguistic
or ethnic – rather than to the larger society or to the nation as a whole. In its extreme form, communalism
manifests itself in hatred towards groups perceived as hostile, ultimately leading to violent attacks on other
communities.REASon -
A. Systemic Problems
Conflict resolution mechanisms are ineffective;
Intelligence gathered is not accurate, timely and actionable and
Bad personnel policies - poor choice of officials and short tenures - lead to inadequate grasp of local
conditions.
B. Administrative Shortcomings
The administration and the police fail to anticipate and read indicators which precipitated violence earlier;
Even after the appearance of first signals, the administration and police are slow to react;
Field functionaries tend to seek and wait for instructions from superiors and superiors tend to interfere in
local matters undermining local initiative and authority;
The administration and police at times act in a partisan manner and
At times there is failure of leadership, even total abdication on the part of those entrusted with maintenance
of public order.
C.Post-riot Management Deficiencies
Rehabilitation is often neglected, breeding resentment and residual anger and Officials are not held to
account for their failures, thus perpetuating slackness and incompetence.
2. Terrorism - Terrorism has been defined as the illegal use of force or violence against people to create a wave of
terror with the intention of achieving certain political or sectarian objectives.An analysis of some of the recent
terrorist attacks indicates that terrorist organisations have used the existing organised crime networks. Terrorist
groups and these crime syndicates have international links with similar organisations and are supported by foreign
agencies inimical to our interests. Their activities are being financed through international money laundering and
drug trafficking thus creating an intricate web of crime, terror and trafficking in arms and drugs
5. VARIOUS SECURITY FORCES AND AGENCIES AND
THEIR MANDATE
Q 4. What are your views on the efficacy of India’s security intelligence establishment? Substantiate your
views.
The major intelligence agencies currently operating in the country and their mandate include-
Intelligence Bureau(IB) – The Intelligence Bureau specialised agency used to garner intelligence from
within India and also execute counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism tasks.
Counter-intelligence refers to information gathered and activities conducted to protect against espionage,
other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers,
organizations or persons or international terrorist activities, but not including personnel, physical, document
or communications security programs.
Counter-terrorism tasks include political or military activities designed to prevent or thwart terrorism thereby
giving a wide remit to the agency.
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) – A specialised, independent agency dedicated to foreign intelligence
gathering.
Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)- Deals with the Collection, analysis and dissemination of
information on cybersecurity incidents.
Directorate of Enforcement (DE)- An economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws
and fighting economic crime in India.
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)- A major intelligence agency which enforces the prohibition of
the smuggling of items including drugs, gold, diamonds, electronics, foreign currency, and counterfeit Indian
currency.
Intelligence units of different states with different mandates. For example, Maharashtra intelligence unit is
concerned with organised crime and smuggling activities while north-eastern states also have to deal with
secessionist movements.
Concerns about the existing intelligence network:
The changing nature of threats emanating from the Cyberspace and social media like ISIS using secure
communications networks to further its propaganda and recruit people online which cannot be tackled
through the traditional setup.
A chronic shortage of specialised personnel coupled with the inefficient use of human resources. Take for
instance the IB, a major portion of its human resources gets diverted doing daily police work like
verifications, something that the agency claims it does not do any better than the police forces.
, Intelligence Agencies with different mandates, often overlapping each other’s, sometimes leading to
duplication of efforts and non-cooperation between agencies. For Ex: The mandates of RAW and IB with
respect to organised crimes like smuggling.
Intelligence collection is ad-hoc in the absence of clear-cut requirements from the consumers of intelligence.
Poor cadre management and inability to recruit qualified language specialists and technical skills.
Lack of intellectual capacity and investment in the education system exacerbate recruitment shortfalls in
intelligence agencies. Engaging private players for specialist tasks is therefore necessary.
Agencies suffer from a chronic shortage of military expertise.
Lack of a comprehensive national-level database of suspected individuals. Initiatives like NATGRID are yet
to take off due to differences over data sharing between the centre and states.
Failure to act swiftly over the gathered intelligence by the enforcement agencies due to doubts over the
credibility of the data, a fact which came to light post the Pathankot airbase attacks.
The country’s inability in ending various armed conflicts, be it Naga insurgency or other northern
movements or Kashmir militancy exposing the fault lines in our intelligence establishment. Neighbouring
countries such as Pakistan and China also have a role in fomenting these movements.
The inability of the police forces to prevent communal violence and growing fundamentalism in many
instances like the Muzaffarnagar violence, which is mainly due to the failure of the traditional intelligence
networks.
Lack of parliamentary statute failing to enforce accountability in intelligence agencies.
The National Cyber Security Policy which aimed at creating a skilled workforce of 5,00,000 professionals to
tackle the growing cyber-attacks fails to suggest ways to create such a talent pool.
Lack of political attention and effective guidance has prevented reform and optimal functioning of the
intelligence system.
The absence of the Chief OfDefence staff has hampered the coordination between the military and other
intelligence agencies.
Way forward:
Intelligence agencies need to anticipate threats in advance to prevent and mitigate possible security breaches.
The states must rise above politics in matters of national security to implement crucial initiatives like
NATGRID and NCTC.
A comprehensive law bringing intelligence agencies under parliamentary scrutiny will help in delineating
functions of different agencies and enforce accountability to the legislature rather than the present ad-hocism.
The Central Government should take active steps to ensure interagency, interstate and centre-state
cooperation to plug the information gaps.
While the revenue outlays have been increasing, the capital outlays have seen troughs and crests in the last
four years. Hence, expenditure on expanding manpower has to be balanced by commensurate expenditure on
infrastructure like training schools, forensic laboratories, procuring additional vehicles etc.
The National Cyber Security Policy has to be strengthened to address the skill gap and develop cutting
, edge/bleeding edge technologies in the upcoming fields of big data and data analytics to detect early patterns
of crime and effectively prevent it.
PUBLIC ORDER
Maintenance of public order and the rule of law is a key sovereign function of the State, as important in its own
way as defending the nation from external aggression or maintaining the unity and integrity of the nation State.
The eminent jurist, Locke, put it succinctly, “wherever law ends, tyranny begins” - Locke
At Independence, Sardar Patel envisaged quite a different role for the police in independent India. He observed,
“You have served the previous regime under different conditions. The people then had a different attitude to you,
but the reasons for that attitude have now vanished. Now the time has come when you can secure the affection and
regard of the people.”
Some Grave Public Order Problems
1. Communalism in a broad sense implies blind allegiance to one’s own communal group – religious, linguistic
or ethnic – rather than to the larger society or to the nation as a whole. In its extreme form, communalism
manifests itself in hatred towards groups perceived as hostile, ultimately leading to violent attacks on other
communities.REASon -
A. Systemic Problems
Conflict resolution mechanisms are ineffective;
Intelligence gathered is not accurate, timely and actionable and
Bad personnel policies - poor choice of officials and short tenures - lead to inadequate grasp of local
conditions.
B. Administrative Shortcomings
The administration and the police fail to anticipate and read indicators which precipitated violence earlier;
Even after the appearance of first signals, the administration and police are slow to react;
Field functionaries tend to seek and wait for instructions from superiors and superiors tend to interfere in
local matters undermining local initiative and authority;
The administration and police at times act in a partisan manner and
At times there is failure of leadership, even total abdication on the part of those entrusted with maintenance
of public order.
C.Post-riot Management Deficiencies
Rehabilitation is often neglected, breeding resentment and residual anger and Officials are not held to
account for their failures, thus perpetuating slackness and incompetence.
2. Terrorism - Terrorism has been defined as the illegal use of force or violence against people to create a wave of
terror with the intention of achieving certain political or sectarian objectives.An analysis of some of the recent
terrorist attacks indicates that terrorist organisations have used the existing organised crime networks. Terrorist
groups and these crime syndicates have international links with similar organisations and are supported by foreign
agencies inimical to our interests. Their activities are being financed through international money laundering and
drug trafficking thus creating an intricate web of crime, terror and trafficking in arms and drugs
