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]]>NTRO also houses,
– The National Critical Infrastructure Protection Centre
The agency is created to monitor, intercept and assess threats to crucial infrastructure and other vital installations from intelligence gathered using sensors and platforms which include satellites, underwater buoys, drones, VSAT-terminal locators, and fiber-optic cable nodal tap points.
– National Institute of Cryptology Research and Development (NICRD)
Asia’s first cryptology centre.
NTRO follows exactly the same “norms of conduct” as the other two agencies in similar roles – Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), was originally known as the National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO). After the Kargil war in 1999, the Subrahmanyam committee report to the Government of India highlighted India’s weaknesses in intelligence gathering in the national security set up. This led to the founding of the National Technical Facilities Organisation. In October 2001, the directives and the role of NFTO were outlined by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam when he was the Principal Scientific Adviser.
At that time, a Group of Ministers (GOM) spearheaded by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani put across their recommendation to the parliament committee for NTFO that would be India’s state-of-the-art technical wing of intelligence gathering. The organization would undertake hi-tech surveillance jobs, including satellite monitoring, terrestrial monitoring, internet monitoring, considered vital for the overall security of the nation in line with Dr. Abdul Kalam’s overall directives.
In 2004, the agency was set up with an estimated investment of INR 700 crores to procure different hi-tech equipment for use.
Since NTRO’s responsibility increased in a decade, the agency decided to set up a larger facility in Borda village near Bhopal. In September 2013, the Madhya Pradesh government allotted 180 hectares of land to NTRO.
NTRO India’s foremost and highly specialised technical intelligence gathering agency acts as a super-feeder agency for providing technical intelligence to the Defence Ministry and other related agencies regarding India’s internal and external security. It has developed technological capabilities in aviation and remote sensing, data gathering and processing, cybersecurity, cryptology systems, strategic hardware and software development, and strategic monitoring.
Today NTRO is largely tracking the movements of China’s People’s Liberation Army along the Line of Control (LOC) that has seen a recent deployment of soldiers and support elements from both sides. During the lockdown and global pandemic, China’s tactics at the Indian border gathered tremendous criticism from world leaders. While China and India continue to sit across the table having diplomatic talks to resolve the stand-off, NTRO continues to keep an eye on our intrusive neighbors.
Like other government agencies, NTRO too has had its share of controversies. Few of them include: –
On September 18, 2020, Anil Dhasmana got re-inducted in government service and is now appointed as Chief of the National Technical Research Organisation. Anil Dhasmana succeeds former Intelligence Bureau chief Satish Jha.
Anil Dhasmana a retired Indian Police Service officer and former chief of India’s external spy agency, R&AW had stepped down from the Research and Analysis Wing in June 2019.
A 1981 batch Indian Police Service officer, he had joined R&AW, India’s external spy agency in 1993 working on the agency’s Pakistan desk and becoming an expert at it. He had even lead the Balakot airstrikes conducted by India on February 26, 2019. After Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 40 CRPF soldiers in the Pulwama car bombing, Anil Dhasmana and his agency played an important role in planning the Indian air force attack to drop bombs in the vicinity of the town of Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.
Every agency has its ups and downs. But NTRO the eyes that look out for the nation we do hope will be protected and watched over by its head Anil Dhasmana.
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