National Security Council
Recently, during the Pegasus controversy, it has come to the fore that the Central Government’s expenditure on the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has increased from Rs 33 crore to Rs 333 crore in the year 2016-17.
In this way, this expenditure has increased by almost 10 times.
National Security Council
- The National Security Council (NSC) is a three-tier organization overseeing political, economic, energy and security issues of strategic concern.
- The ‘National Security Advisor’ (NSA) presides over the ‘National Security Council’ and is also the primary advisor to the Prime Minister. The present National Security Advisor is Ajit Doval.
Formation: It was formed in the year 1999, and it deliberates on all aspects of national security.
Three Tier Structure: NSC consists of 3 Tier Structure-
- The Strategic Policy Group (SPG)
- National Security Advisory Board (NSAB)
- National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS)
- The SPG, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, is the premier forum for inter-ministerial coordination and integration.
- NSAB analyzes long-term issues, and provides perspectives on issues of national security.
Functions: It operates under the Executive Office of the Prime Minister in India, liaises between the executive branch of the government and the intelligence services, and advises the leadership on intelligence and security issues.
Members: Home Minister, Defense Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister are its members.
Source – The Hindu
