[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-129

[Taha Mehmood]

http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?sectionName=Current+Events&contentId=5590448&programId=1073754900&pageTypeId=1073754893&contentType=EDITORIAL

Movers & shakers
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Chidambaram is at 'home' tackling terror.

THE WEEK profiles the key ministers


BY VIJAYA PUSHKARNA, SONI MISHRA, KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE, NEHA S.
BAJPAI, GUNJAN SHARMA, MONIKA SHINGHAL, RABI BANERJEE AND KUMAR
ANSHUMAN

 P. Chidambaram: Home affairs
When home ministry officials see P. Chidambaram, they grit their
teeth. Possibly, they are calling the home minister hardnosed,
unforgiving and rigid. But they know he means business. Chidambaram
has asked them to submit a report on the tasks assigned, at the end of
every month. The 64-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer has demanded
punctuality in his ministry, saying, "We can't relax. We have our job
to do."
He has set two goals to tackle terrorism-to raise the level of
preparedness and to respond quickly to any threat from anywhere. He
aims to implement a 100-day plan to strengthen internal security. The
focus is on operationalising the NSG regional hubs in Mumbai, Kolkata,
Hyderabad and Chennai. Introducing multipurpose national
identification cards in coastal areas is also his priority.
Ministry spokesman Onkar Kedia said the new strategy was to improve
intelligence gathering. "If we have the real intelligence, we can
prevent and prepare ourselves to thwart any threat. We are recruiting
more than one lakh police and paramilitary personnel to strengthen
security," he said.
In the Northeast, Chidambaram is tightening the grip on insurgent
groups. Ministry officials said the policy towards Naxalites was
lenient during Shivraj Patil's tenure. "Now it is going to be tough,"
said an official.
Chidambaram proved himself a man of action after taking over as home
minister in the wake of the 26/11 attacks. He spelt out strategies
that many people, even in the opposition parties, said were in the
right direction-like the setting up of a Multi-Agency Centre for
improving coordination between the intelligence agencies.
But will he be able to end the turf wars between the various
intelligence agencies? Another task will be the modernisation of the
police force, as crores of rupees given to states for upgradation of
the police force remain unspent. His strength is that he is efficient
and a quick decision maker. And he has put together a good team. That
puts him quite at home.