BENGALURU: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the Centre will soon develop a national database to monitor hawala transactions, terror funding, counterfeit currency, narcotics, bomb threats, illegal arms smuggling and other activities that can potentially support terror acts. Intelligence and legal agencies should now be able to make full use of it with the barriers to critical data being removed, he said.
He was speaking after inaugurating the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Bengaluru premises, which will play an active role in using the national database.
Shah said security requirements have changed significantly compared to the earlier security challenges in terms of data, scope and complexity and there is a need for legal and security agencies to have an automated, secure and immediate access to information obtained from reliable sources.
The services of the NATGRID solution will be available to 11 Central agencies and police of all States and Union Territories. It will link user agencies with data holders, giving them access to real-time information needed for intelligence services and investigations. C-DAC Pune has been roped in as Technology Partner and IIT Bhilai as Plan Management Consultant for the development of the NATGRID solution, said a statement issued by the government.
Shah expressed hope that NATGRID will build a strong foundation for intelligence departments and provide them with state-of-the-art tools in the fight against terror organizations and their supporters. He requested user agencies to exercise caution in using this system, which should be used only for correct purposes. He stressed that privacy and security of data are serious matters and assured protocols have been put in place to ensure there is no unauthorized access to citizens’ personal data.
‘NATGRID to link data sources’
The government has entrusted the task of developing and operating a state-of-the-art and innovative information technology platform for accessing information from the data collection organizations to NATGRID. The Minister expressed hope that NATGRID will fulfil the responsibility of linking various sources of data. Shah said for quick and effective analysis, information should not be kept in silos, as it does not result in the analysis of information and getting it properly done in time.
AUTOMATED ACCESS TO INFO NEEDED
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said security requirements have changed significantly compared to the earlier security challenges and there is a need for legal and security agencies to have an automated and immediate access to information.