Date:10/07/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/07/10/stories/2002071005700100.htm

Front Page

Govt. denies move to shift NSC to Home Ministry

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI JULY 9. The Government today denied any move to shift the National Security Council (NSC) from the Prime Minister's Office to the Home Ministry.

In a statement here, the Government described reports in a section of the press which referred to a move to place the NSC under the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, as "baseless". The reports had suggested that the decision to move the NSC out of the Prime Minister's Office came about after a meeting between Mr. Advani and the Cabinet Secretary, T.R. Prasad. These reports made out that the move was part of a larger exercise to give additional responsibilities to Mr. Advani consequent to his elevation as the Deputy Prime Minister.

Interestingly enough, the Government moved with speed to put out an official denial: — "The Cabinet Secretary has clarified that this issue (of placing the NSC under the Deputy Prime Minister) has never figured in the discussion that the Deputy Prime Minister had with him at any point of time.''

More significantly, the official statement, issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), noted that the NSC "continues to be in the Prime Minister's Office and the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister heads it as the National Security Adviser.''

"There is no move to shift the National Security Council from the Prime Minister's Office to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Reports appearing in a section of the press that the Government is considering placing of the NSC under the Deputy Prime Minister are without any basis,'' it said.

Bureaucratic circles have been taken aback at the speed and the emphasis with which the report, favourable to Mr. Advani, was denied.

Official sources also discounted reports that the Union Home Ministry would be divided into two Ministries to provide special attention to Jammu and Kashmir and to monitor the national security scenario more closely. Sources said there was no such move on the part of the Government, and the Department of Internal Security was also headed by the Home Secretary. Similarly, the Department of Jammu and Kashmir was being looked after by a Special Secretary in the Home Ministry who also reported to the Home Secretary.