NTRO Comes Under Intelligence Act

The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), the technical intelligence agency under National Security Advisor (NSA), will now have similar powers as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). The Union Home Ministry on May 15, 2017 issued a notification listing NTRO under the Intelligence Organisations (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1985.

Intelligence Organisations (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1985

  • The act prevents employees of a notified agency from forming unions/associations, bars them from communicating with the press or publishing a book or other document without permission of the head of the intelligence organisation.
  • It was in 1985 that the Act was first passed in Parliament. This was done to ensure that the intelligence officials do not leak out information and embarrass the government.

National Security Doctrine

The Pathankot debacle has triggered serious debate on India’s national security system, which is a collective term for the defense and foreign relations of a country. As a concept, a government, along with its parliament, should protect the state and its citizens against all kind of ‘national’ crises through a variety of power projections, such as political clout, diplomacy, economic strength, military might, etc. India does not have a national security architecture that addresses these basics. This ‘good’ should be in the form of a national security doctrine and strategy.

Difference between ‘Strategy’ and ‘Doctrine’

‘Strategy’ flows from the ‘doctrine’, both are inter-related but not interchangeable. Doctrine is a set of national principles, indeed ‘a statement of Government policy.’ Political Doctrine is “fundamental Government policy especially in international relations.” A country’s national security policy is determined by many factors, including external threats, geography, political culture, military capabilities, economic needs, elite opinion, popular opinion (in democracies) and its leaders’ perceptions of the country’s interests. This conceptual framework manifests itself as foreign policy or national security ‘doctrine’, which in turn guides leaders in conducting the foreign policy of a country. At its most effective, a national security doctrine is the organizing principle that helps statesmen identify and prioritize that country’s geopolitical interests.

Demand for Inclusion

  • The IB and the R&AW had earlier opposed the inclusion of any other organisation in the list of monitoring agencies under the Act, following which the Home Ministry declined to grant powers to NTRO to monitor phones.
  • Set up after the 1999 Kargil conflict, NTRO has been making presentations and demanding that they shall be included on the list as they have the right to lawfully intercept and monitor communications externally.
  • Many security agencies like the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) among others have been asking the Home Ministry to include them under the Intelligence Organisations Act.

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