Home Minister Amit Shah today said that the Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has had a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism from the very first day.

He was speaking after inaugurating the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) premises at Bengaluru.

The Home Minister said security requirements had changed significantly as compared to earlier challenges in terms of data, scope, and complexity.

There was a need for legal and security agencies to have automated, secure, and immediate access to information obtained from reliable sources.

The Government has entrusted NATGRID with the task of developing and operating a state-of-the-art and innovative information technology platform for accessing information from data collection organizations, he said.

The Union Government will soon be developing a national database to monitor hawala transactions, terrorist funding, counterfeit currency, narcotics, bomb threats, illegal arms smuggling, and other terrorist activities, he said.

The Home Minister said intelligence and legal agencies should now be able to make full use of information, with barriers to critical data being removed. With the help of data analytics and information technology, there should be a paradigm shift in the working of agencies. He expressed hope that NATGRID will fulfill the responsibility of linking various sources of data.

Shah said that C-DAC is implementing NATGRID in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of a self-reliant India. For quick and effective analysis, information should not be kept in silos, he said, as it does not help in the analysis of information or getting it in time.

The Home Minister said that for analysis of information, it is important that Accessible, Affordable, Available, Accountable, and Actionable points are kept in mind. Shah said the Police Technology Mission announced by the Prime Minister at the Director Generals of Police Conference will start soon.

He stressed that privacy and security of data is a very serious matter and assured us that necessary protocols will work to ensure that there is no unauthorized access to the personal data of any citizen through this system at any point in time.

The NATGRID CEO informed that 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 is Technology Partner and IIT, Bhilai is the Plan Management Consultant for the development of the NATGRID solution.

Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai, Home Minister of Karnataka Araga Gyanendra, Union Minister of State for Home Nishith Pramanik, and Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla were also present at the inauguration ceremony.