'Govt should equip well to face terrorism challenge'

There is an urgent need to build the capacity to meet the challenges of terrorism, former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily said here on Sunday.

Two days after the terror attack in Pulwama, former Union Minister said "...You need to build capacity to meet any challenges posed by anti-national forces. We need to work ahead of time in technology, administratively as well as governance part."

Moily was speaking at the release of his book "Unleashing India-Quest for Governance". The book was released by Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Unless we think ahead of time, we fail to meet the challenges posed by terrorists, he said. Terrorists have the capacity to strike and we should equip well to foil them in advance, he said.

Releasing the book, Manmohan Singh said the reports of Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) headed by M Veerappa Moily extensively implemented by the government mostly reports on public order and combating terrorism.

The ARC recommendations have brought several changes in India's administrative system mainly in the refurbishing of personnel administration, skilling new hights and promoting e-governance, Singh said.

The ARC recommended the division of police functions into three police departments and creating a separate federal agency to probe terror activities, he said.

Former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the Planning Commission played an important role by giving an outside opinion to the government.

He said the biggest weakness in the Planning Commission was that its staff strength like any other government departments. At least 70 per cent staff in the Commission should be outsiders and domain experts of various fields. The outsiders and subject experts can give better suggestions to the government on various issues, he said.