In its presentation prepared for the new government, Union Home Ministry officials dropped two contentious issues over which Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi had been at loggerheads with the UPA government when he was Gujarat chief minister.

The ‘communal violence Bill’, and the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) were dropped from the ministry’s blueprint for the new government. The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), conceived during UPA tenure finds mention.

“NCTC was discussed. It was decided to drop it. It was not included in the proposals for the next government. Since the Communal Violence Bill lapsed in the last session of the Rajya Sabha, it was decided not to take it any further or mention it in the presentation,” said a senior official.

The NCTC, a pet-project of outgoing Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was opposed by Modi who had said, “I think such poorly conceived ideas which tinker with age-old existing systems rather than strengthening them will do irreparable loss to our internal security apparatus.”

In a letter to PM Manmohan Singh in December 2013, Modi had said the communal violence Bill was a “recipe for disaster.”

In a presentation before Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami stressed revival of the “Patwari (revenue official) and Police Munshi system” for intelligence gathering. During the British era, land revenue officials, apart from performing their duties, used to collect intelligence for the government by scanning land records and suspicious land deals.

Tackling home-grown terror outfits like Indian Mujahideen and Maoists, ensuring security of women, revamping intelligence agencies and reforms in the criminal justice system are some highlights of the Home department report.

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