ISLAMABAD: Expressing dissatisfaction over the performance of “incapacitated” National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday formed a special committee so that the organisation could discharge its responsibilities of national security in an effective manner.

The prime minister was chairing the first-ever meeting of the Board of Governors of the country’s premier antiterrorism body at the Prime Minister Office. It was attended by the chief ministers of the four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir president, federal ministers, directors general of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Federal Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau besides senior bureaucrats.

Deploring the fact that not a single meeting of the Nacta board had been convened since its inception, the prime minister said the past government’s neglect had resulted in a lack of improvement in the functioning of an important national organisation.

Forms special committee for restructuring of premier antiterrorism body to meet future challenges

Formed in 2009 and tasked with supervising the implementation of the National Action Plan adopted with a consensus by the country’s political leadership in the aftermath of the 2014 Peshawar tragedy, Nacta has been operating without adequate staff and resources. Reports suggest that out of 300 posts, only a little over 50 are filled, while there has been virtually no action on critical plans, including the combined deterrence plan and comprehensive response plan envisaged under the National Internal Security Policy (NISP). The Nacta Act also requires regular meetings of the board of governors to provide critical policy guidance and vision.

Following the meeting, Finance Minister Asad Umer told Dawn that the last government had not owned Nacta and as a result the organisation remained “ineffective”. He said the special committee formed by the prime minister would present within a week its recommendations on how the premier antiterrorism body could be restructured in a way that it could meet future challenges. “Today it was a general discussion that how Nacta can be made a real operational organisation,” he added.

In reply to a question about provision of funds to the authority, Mr Umar said: “Finance is not the issue as the government was ready to provide all-out support to Nacta so that it can combat terrorism and extremism.”

One of the reasons that kept Nacta “dysfunctional” was that former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan wanted to bring the organisation under his ministry and not in the direct control of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The controversy continued throughout the five-year term of the PML-N government and incapacitated Nacta.

However, the finance minister said it had been decided that Nacta would remain under the control of Prime Minister Khan.

Interestingly, it is not for the first time that such a committee has been constituted to improve the performance of Nacta as similar efforts had also been made in the past, but in vain.

The Nacta board meeting also reviewed the progress in implementation of the 20-point National Action Plan. “The meeting observed that the NAP worked perfectly, but the performance of Nacta remained hopeless,” Mr Umar said.

Prime Minister Khan told the meeting that Pakistan had come a long way in its fight against the menace of terrorism and countering violent extremism. “In this struggle, thousands of our civilians and security personnel have sacrificed their lives,” he said, lauding the services and contributions of the armed forces, intelligence agencies, police and other law enforcement and security agencies.

The prime minister observed that the improved security situation in the country was a result of combined efforts of all stakeholders and said the current ground realities called for revisiting the role of Nacta in order to make it a truly proactive organisation with a well-defined mandate.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2018