NIA has poor infrastructure, limited funds:Parliamentary panel

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), an elite organisation created to tackle terror in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has poor infrastructure and limited funds, a Parliamentary committee detected and slammed the government for it.
During a meeting of the Standing Committee on Home, members pointed that NIA officials move about in hired taxis and have manpower crunch to deal with increased workload.
Members of the committee slammed the Home Ministry and the Finance Ministry for poor infrastructure provided to NIA. Members were also critical about the "limited" funds being provided to the agency, sources told PTI.
NIA was set up through an act of Parliament in December, 2008 soon after the Mumbai terror attacks. It is probing various terror incidents, including the recent Hyderabad blasts.

The committee met here to discuss the demands for grants of the Home Ministry in which Home Secretary R K Singh and top officials of various central police agencies were also present.
"You create an agency but fail to provide infrastructure, including manpower, vehicles and buildings. An anti-terror agency is being manned by a few hundred personnel," a member said after the meeting.

The sources said a detailed discussion on the role of NIA will take place in the committee in the coming days.
MHA and NIA officials were also asked about the progress made in the February 21 Hyderabad blasts and the panel was informed that important leads have been gathered and a breakthrough was likely.

Members, including Lalu Prasad (RJD), raised the issue of detention of Muslim youths from Bihar for their alleged role in terror activities.
Some members suggested fast tracking of such cases in courts.
The issue of NIA arresting people from various states without informing the state authorities also came up.