If this form of NCTC is opposed country will pay price: Chidambaram

He may no longer be the Home Minister but Finance Minister P Chidambaram continues to defend NCTC, the pet project of his tenure despite it facing unyielding opposition from the chief ministers of multiple states in the country. Chidambaram said the government was willing to consider the views of chief ministers opposed to the creation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, but it was essential to create the organisation. “The initial NCTC order was a tighter order, because of differences from the states, we had to change the order, even if that is opposed, it just means we are not serious about tackling terror,” he said, after attending the Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security. [caption id=“attachment_844853” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chidambaram has said the creation of NCTC was essential. AFP[/caption] The Finance Minister said that the centre had taken out some of the more contentious clauses in the original plan for the NCTC and should be approved. “If this form of NCTC is opposed then the country will pay the price from time to time,” Chidambaram said. ”To oppose the NCTC I think is wrong,” he said. However, the NCTC is still no where near creation with most chief ministers present in today’s conference opposed to certain powers the agency would have. And while Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan may have raised some points of concern over the NCTC, Chidambaram pointed out that no Chief Minister from a Congress-administered state had opposed the creation of the agency. Chidambaram said that the seriousness the government had planned to give the NCTC was lost due to the opposition by Chief Ministers.