Hitting out at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram over the issue of setting up anti-terror body NCTC, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today accused the Centre of not sharing information on its constitution, functioning and powers with state governments.
Referring to Chidambaram's statement earlier in the day at Badu in West Bengal, Patnaik said, "If security is the shared responsibility of the Centre and the state, then I am surprised that they (home ministry) are not sharing vital information with state governments.
"They have not shared information regarding the constitution of NCTC, its functioning and powers."
Stating that Union Home Ministry sent huge bills for deployment of CRPF and BSF in states, including Odisha affected by Maoist activities, terrorism and extremism, Patnaik said, "It is a matter of surprise that they can send heavy bills, but not the important notification issued on February 3.
"We are not informed about the new anti-terrorism body to be operational on March 1. It seems very peculiar."
"Security of the country is shared by the Centre and state governments. The Constitution of India assigns law and order to the state government and also assigns the Centre to protect the country against external aggression or internal disturbance," Chidambaram said in West Bengal.
Chief Ministers of Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, have opposed the Centre's February 3 order which empowered the NCTC to arrest and search without informing the concerned state authorities.
The chief ministers have written to the Prime Minister voicing their opposition to the Home Ministry's notification without consulting them.
