National database to monitor terrorist activities soon: Shah

Bengaluru: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the government will soon be developing a national database to monitor hawala transactions, terrorist funding, terrorist activities among others.

He said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a zero tolerance policy against terrorism from the very first day.

The minister was speaking after inaugurating the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).

"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," Shah said.

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

Noting that security requirements today have changed significantly as compared to the earlier security challenges in terms of data, scope and complexity, Shah said, therefore, there is a need for legal and security agencies to have automated, secure and immediate access to information obtained from reliable sources.

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

Shah said NATGRID should have an in-built mechanism for continuous upgradation, and there should be a study group to create a database of modus operandi of various crimes committed within the country.

The NATGRID CEO said that the services of the grid 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, an official release said. C-DAC Pune has been roped in as technology partner and IIT, Bhilai as Plan Management Consultant for the development of NATGRID solution, it said.