The United progressive Alliance (UPA) government is working towards bringing a slew of bills aimed at strengthening the existing laws that would empower the government to deal with scourge of terrorism effectively in the current session of the Parliament.
Initiating a debate on the Mumbai attacks in the Lok Sabha in the House, Home minister P Chidambaram said: "We hope to present a set of Bills to strengthen the legal provisions relating to the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of terrorist acts." One of the bills pertains to the setting up of a National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The opposition Bhartiya Janata party (BJP) has already stated that it would support government’s move of setting up a federal investigating agency provided it also gives a strong anti-terror law to the country.
Chidambaram also asked the House to pass the Amendment Bill to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which would be helpful in tracking the money trails of the terrorists.
Pledging that government could not go back to "business as usual" on dealing with terrorism, Chidambaram said: "It will be my endeavour to take certain hard decisions and prepare the country and the people to face the challenge of terrorism."
Admitting that 7500 km Indian coastline was highly vulnerable to attacks lack of proper surveillance, home minister said the government had decided to set up a separate Coastal Command for overall supervision and coordination of maritime and coastal security.
The government has also decided to review the Rs 400 crore coastal security scheme, which was approved in January 2005 and strengthen it in view of the terror attacks by Pakistan-based terrorist who had entered Mumbai through the sea route.
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Besides, creating at least four more hubs of the National Security Guard (NSG) in different parts of the country, Chidambaram said that two companies in each India Reserve Battalions (IRB), which are being raised in different states, would also be given special commando training.
The government has also decided to set up 20 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism schools in different parts of the country for training the commando units of the state police forces.
The home minister said the disclosures by the arrested terrorist and the material evidence from the dinghy used by the terrorists to reach Mumbai had given enough evidence of the Pakistani origins of the terror plot in Mumbai.