NSAB chairman Alok Joshi urges enhanced intelligence sharing among government agencies to break agency silos
NSAB chairman Alok Joshi urges enhanced intelligence sharing among government agencies to break agency silos
GANDHINAGAR: National Security Advisory Board chairman Alok Joshi on Thursday emphasised the need for intelligence sharing among govt agencies for better results and asserted that one of the challenges agencies face is breaking the silos in which they operate.
Joshi, who was addressing delegates at the 'Police Technology Summit 2025' at Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar, headed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), apex level agencies in the country's intelligence mechanism, before helming NSAB.
"India stands at a pivotal moment where technology can revolutionize law enforcement. However, success of this revolution depends on collecting data and analysing it, sharing it swiftly within and across agencies and recalibrating systems through feedback, all the while placing the human factor at the heart of our efforts," Joshi said in his address.
"One of the challenges that India is facing is breaking the silos without compromising on the principle of 'need to know'. I think that is something which is central to our system and it will not go away," the retired IPS officer said.
National Security Advisory Board chairman Alok Joshi gave an example of NTRO having refused to share an intelligence input when he was heading RAW. "When I was heading the RAW, we did an operation in the adversary country and the operation was a success, and we knew exactly what was going to be the pushback.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
เทรดทองCFDs กับโบรกเกอร์ที่เชื่อถือได้ | เรียนรู้เพิ่มเติม
IC Markets
สมัคร
Undo
Security levels were raised and precautions were taken," said Joshi. At that time, NTRO gave an input to RAW, indicating that there was "something brewing", Joshi said.
"So I reached out to the then chairman of NTRO and requested him to show me the excerpts of that intercept. Unfortunately, he took a different opinion. A view was taken that they cannot show the intercept because of certain security reasons. That was their assessment," he said.
"But this thing stuck in my mind. Within three months, I was in NTRO (as chief). After I settled, the first thing I did was to call for that file. And believe me, if the contents of that message had been shown to me, it would have been a different story. After all, we were both heading security organizations," Joshi said.
Asserting that analysing and operationalising intelligence is equally important, Joshi said all officials must remember that someone is the consumer of the information they are receiving.
"What would you expect the consumer to do with that information? I think this is something that has to be ingrained in the system, both at the time of collection, and at the time of dissemination," he said. He said no intelligence is complete without feedback, but it is equally difficult to get feedback on the input shared with other agencies.
"It is very difficult, but as a producer, it is your duty to chase it. Ensure that you get feedback or have a relationship with that organization where you have the trust and the confidence built in to give you that feedback," he added.
During his address, Joshi also said the govt should share the development cost incurred by entrepreneurs building indigenous technologies. "If you want to strengthen your indigenous effort, you have to pay the cost for it.
The development cost has to be shared by the govt. At NSAB, we have started taking a re-look at the procurement process, especially for policing and security agencies. It is necessary because you can't have a no cost-no commitment principle. Working in this kind of environment, it will just not work. It will not encourage the industry," he stressed.
Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with
Eid wishes
,
messages
, and
quotes
!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Indian Express
How latest drive to deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants stands out
Since Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, Indian authorities have 'pushed back' more than 2,500 allegedly illegal Bangladeshi immigrants across the international border, What distinguishes this drive is the urgency and scale: the government has not only issued a 30-day deadline for verification of illegal immigrants, but identified individuals are now being transported in Indian Air Force aircraft from various states to border outposts. This has, however, raised concerns around due process, humanitarian issues, and pending litigation, especially reports of people being left in the no man's land between India and Bangladesh. Migration between what is now Bangladesh and India dates back to British times. * The colonial administration encouraged settlement in the then sparsely populated Assam by bringing in labourers from Bengal and North India. * Post-Partition, millions of refugees from East Pakistan, mostly Hindus, moved to India. Amid the brutal Pakistani crackdown on Bengalis, some 10 million people, mostly Hindus, sought refuge in India in 1971 alone. * Over the decades, economic migration from Bangladesh to India has continued, with many crossing the border into states like Assam and West Bengal in search of jobs. This influx has led to significant socio-political tension, particularly in Assam. While the India-Bangladesh border is largely fenced today, gaps remain, and illegal migration persists, with Bangladeshi workers visible in metropolitan labour markets across India. There is presently no official or universally accepted figure about the number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India, and estimates have varied widely. In 2004, then MoS (Home) Sriprakash Jaiswal told Parliament that 12 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants resided in India. (This claim was withdrawn following protests by the Assam and West Bengal governments.) Former RAW chief Sanjeev Tripathi, in a 2016 paper, estimated the number to be more than 15 million, based on comparisons of census data from Bangladesh and India from 1981 to 2011. The same year, MoS (Home) Kiren Rijiju told Parliament that 20 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were living in India, based on unofficial assessments. The deportation of illegal immigrants has been an enduring part of India's domestic policy, cutting across political lines. The UPA government too deported illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. RPN Singh, who served as MoS (Home) from 2012 to 2014, claimed in 2018 that the Manmohan Singh government had deported 82,000 immigrants. These efforts have further picked up under the Narendra Modi government, driven by both national security concerns and ideological motivations. In 2018, then-BJP president and current Union Home Minister Amit Shah had referred to Bangladeshi immigrants as 'termites'. Since 2018, the Modi government has also pursued a more tech-driven approach to the problem. * That year, it launched the portal to collect the biographic and biometric data of Rohingya immigrants. This was later expanded to include Bangladeshi immigrants as well. * In 2023, the government revamped this portal into the Foreigners Identification Portal (FIP) to capture more detailed profiles of suspected illegal immigrants. States/UTs and the Ministry of External Affairs were given access to the portal, which is used to upload and verify details of suspected illegal immigrants. If verification fails, deportation is initiated with help from the Foreigners' Regional Registration Offices (FRROs). * In 2023, the government also introduced a District Police Module on the Immigration Visa Foreigner Registration Tracking (IVFRT) portal to track overstaying foreigners. * Further, biometric capture infrastructure — fingerprint scanners, cameras, and computers — has been deployed across police stations, detention centres, and Border Out Posts (BOPs) of the BSF. A renewed push, novel strategy While the issue was never truly on the back burner, deportation drives have intensified following the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, and the beginning of Operation Sindoor on May 7. Currently, states such as Gujarat, Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan are rounding up identified illegal immigrants and transporting them to border points in Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya. From here, they are 'pushed back' across the border by the Border Security Force (BSF). A senior security official told The Indian Express that such deportations have historically had limited success. 'The border is porous. These people often return,' he said. However, the current operation marks a more coordinated, digitised approach to the problem of illegal migration. With biometric data now captured on the FIP, the government hopes re-entry can be checked. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also instructed authorities issuing Aadhaar, Voter ID, and Ration Card to cross-check applicants against the immigrant database before issuing documents. The MHA has set a 30-day deadline for States and UTs to verify suspected illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. If verification fails, deportation proceedings will follow. An integrated server will support this process, bringing together data from the IVFRT system, the FIP portal, and the India-Myanmar Border Pass System. Some questions remain Questions around due process, humanitarian concerns, and bilateral sensitivities persist. As more people are rounded up and transported to the borders, courts and civil rights groups are likely to scrutinise the legal and ethical contours of this drive, especially in cases involving pending litigation or individuals caught in border limbo. On May 8, Bangladesh sent a diplomatic note to India registering its protest over the issue. Country's Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said on Tuesday that another such note was in the works. 'We see it (deportation) is happening. It is not feasible to resist physically,' he said, stressing the need for diplomatic and legal processes to be followed in resolving consular issues. The issue has always been diplomatically sensitive. In a 2022 BSF-BGB meeting in Dhaka, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) reportedly told India that illegal immigration from Bangladesh has reduced, largely due to economic improvements. At one point in 2020-21, Bangladesh's per capita income ($1,962) was higher than India's ($1,935) — a data point that complicates the narrative of large-scale economic migration.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
NSAB chairman Alok Joshi urges enhanced intelligence sharing among government agencies to break agency silos
NSAB chairman Alok Joshi urges enhanced intelligence sharing among government agencies to break agency silos GANDHINAGAR: National Security Advisory Board chairman Alok Joshi on Thursday emphasised the need for intelligence sharing among govt agencies for better results and asserted that one of the challenges agencies face is breaking the silos in which they operate. Joshi, who was addressing delegates at the 'Police Technology Summit 2025' at Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar, headed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), apex level agencies in the country's intelligence mechanism, before helming NSAB. "India stands at a pivotal moment where technology can revolutionize law enforcement. However, success of this revolution depends on collecting data and analysing it, sharing it swiftly within and across agencies and recalibrating systems through feedback, all the while placing the human factor at the heart of our efforts," Joshi said in his address. "One of the challenges that India is facing is breaking the silos without compromising on the principle of 'need to know'. I think that is something which is central to our system and it will not go away," the retired IPS officer said. National Security Advisory Board chairman Alok Joshi gave an example of NTRO having refused to share an intelligence input when he was heading RAW. "When I was heading the RAW, we did an operation in the adversary country and the operation was a success, and we knew exactly what was going to be the pushback. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like เทรดทองCFDs กับโบรกเกอร์ที่เชื่อถือได้ | เรียนรู้เพิ่มเติม IC Markets สมัคร Undo Security levels were raised and precautions were taken," said Joshi. At that time, NTRO gave an input to RAW, indicating that there was "something brewing", Joshi said. "So I reached out to the then chairman of NTRO and requested him to show me the excerpts of that intercept. Unfortunately, he took a different opinion. A view was taken that they cannot show the intercept because of certain security reasons. That was their assessment," he said. "But this thing stuck in my mind. Within three months, I was in NTRO (as chief). After I settled, the first thing I did was to call for that file. And believe me, if the contents of that message had been shown to me, it would have been a different story. After all, we were both heading security organizations," Joshi said. Asserting that analysing and operationalising intelligence is equally important, Joshi said all officials must remember that someone is the consumer of the information they are receiving. "What would you expect the consumer to do with that information? I think this is something that has to be ingrained in the system, both at the time of collection, and at the time of dissemination," he said. He said no intelligence is complete without feedback, but it is equally difficult to get feedback on the input shared with other agencies. "It is very difficult, but as a producer, it is your duty to chase it. Ensure that you get feedback or have a relationship with that organization where you have the trust and the confidence built in to give you that feedback," he added. During his address, Joshi also said the govt should share the development cost incurred by entrepreneurs building indigenous technologies. "If you want to strengthen your indigenous effort, you have to pay the cost for it. The development cost has to be shared by the govt. At NSAB, we have started taking a re-look at the procurement process, especially for policing and security agencies. It is necessary because you can't have a no cost-no commitment principle. Working in this kind of environment, it will just not work. It will not encourage the industry," he stressed. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Mithi River desilting fraud: Court grants bail to intermediary Jay Joshi
MUMBAI: The sessions court on Thursday granted bail to Jay Ashok Joshi, a purported intermediary arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in Mithi river desilting contracts. The detailed court order is not yet available, so it isn't clear why the 49-year-old was granted bail. Additional sessions judge NG Shukla, in his operative order, directed Joshi to be released on executing a personal bond of ₹1 lakh. Joshi was also directed to visit the office of the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) whenever called and cooperate with the investigation. The court cautioned him not to tamper with or create hurdles in the investigation. Two weeks ago, a metropolitan magistrate court had rejected the bail pleas of Joshi and another intermediary, Ketan Kadam. They were among 13 people, including three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, booked in connection with the alleged fraud. The case involves alleged financial irregularities, inflated tenders, and corrupt practices linked to desilting work for the Mithi River, which caused the BMC losses worth over ₹65 crore, according to the EOW. Joshi is associated with Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based industrial product manufacturer, while Kadam is the director of a desilting services company, Woder India LLP. According to the police, the duo were involved in charging the BMC an inflated amount to rent silt pusher machines and dredging equipment supplied by a Kochi-based firm, Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. The police claimed this was done in connivance with Matprop executives and officials from the BMC's storm water drains department (SWD). Matprop's director, Dipak Mohan, who was also booked in the case, has denied that he or his company were involved in the fraud. Last week, the police questioned actor Dino Morea and his younger brother Santino after learning that the latter and Kadam's wife, Punita Kadam, were directors in a private company. The police said that they had found some financial transactions between Punita Kadam and Santino Morea, which were being verified. Later, the police claimed they also found a couple of bank transactions between Dino Morea and Ketan Kadam, who have known each other for around 25 years. The police did not reveal the amounts involved in the transactions and who paid whom.
