Ansari for parliamentary intelligence oversight committee

To ensure that the government policy is carried out effectively within the boundaries of law, vice president Hamid Ansari today said there was need for a parliamentary intelligence oversight committee.
 
Ansari was speaking at the RN Kao Memorial lecture and stressed on the need to strike a balance between secrecy, openness and efficacy on a continuous basis, besides ensuring greater coordination to maximise results in complex situations.

"For this reason, it is felt that without access to some operational detail, an oversight body can have or give no assurance about the efficacy or legality of the intelligence services," he said during the programme, held in memory of Kao, founding father of the country's external intelligence gathering mechanism -- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Ansari said whether the openness and public discussion would compromise the secrecy essential for intelligence needs to be examined carefully, the legislature, nevertheless, is the organ of the state that allocates funds and is, therefore, entitled to insist on financial and performance accountability.

"The proposed Standing Committee could fill this void; it could also function as a surrogate for public opinion and thus facilitate wider acceptance of the imperatives of a situation...a wider sampling of opinion would facilitate better comprehension of the issues and of possible remedies to attain total national power and comprehensive defence," the vice president said.