Centre Ready to ‘Empower’ Home Ministry to Fight Naxalites: Pranab
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that the Centre is ready to ‘empower’ the Home Ministry to use air support for police action against Maoists but there should be enough safeguards in place against any misuse of such powers, said media reports.
The minister said that the government fully supported Chidambaram’s efforts in fighting Naxalite groups and knew the fact that the Home Ministry needed to be empowered with whatever was needed to win the battle, reports said.
“Power is required. Whatever the Home Minister feels necessary, he should be empowered with that,” Mukherjee was quoted as saying.
“But if we want to establish an institutional arrangement to deal with it, then we will have to look at what will be the implications of it, what will be the further impact on it (the fight against Naxalites) and whether it can be properly used or if there is any scope for misuse,” Pranab was quoted as saying.
He made the remarks while answering questions if Chidambaram’s request for a ‘larger mandate’ for the Home Ministry would be acceded.
He said that Chidambaram, as Home Minister, was best placed to make the correct assessment of the prevailing situation and the government fully agreed with his assessment, said reports.
“But we have seen that whenever we have empowered enforcement agencies with sweeping powers, there have been cases of misuse. So when we give them the authority that they require, we have to simultaneously ensure that there will be adequate safeguards to prevent any misuse,” he was quoted as saying.
“All the aspects have to be viewed because we cannot take any action that will be described as some sort of knee-jerk reaction. I feel that the problems of insurgency and Naxalism are long-drawn out problems and they cannot be sorted out or solved through a mechanism that can be described as switch-on and switch-off… You have to address it in proper perspective. And it takes time,” Mukherjee was quoted as saying.
(Based on internet reports)
