NEW DELHI: Government has decided not to renew the contract of Raghu Raman, CEO of NATGRID, a robust intelligence gathering mechanism set up to track any terror suspect and incident, and is looking for his replacement.
The decision to replace 50-year-old Raman comes days after the Narendra Modi government assumed office.
“Raghu Raman’s tenure has ended on May 31. We are looking for a new professional to appoint as the new CEO of NATGRID,” a senior Home Ministry official said.
Raman was drawing a salary of Rs 10 lakh per month besides other entitlements of top officers.
National Intelligence Grid, one of the UPA government’s biggest showpiece internal security projects, was set up after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008.
As per the Home Ministry’s proposal, the NATGRID, which is still in nascent stage, in different phases will connect data providing organizations and users besides developing a legal structure through which information can be accessed by the law enforcement agencies.
In the first phase, 10 user agencies and 21 service providers will be connected, while in later phases about 950 additional organizations will be connected and another over 1,000 organizations in the subsequent years.
These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions and telecommunications.
The agencies include the Intelligence Bureau, local police and revenue and Customs departments.
While the clearance for Rs 3,400 crore project from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) came in 2011, execution of the project slowed down after the exit of Home Minister P Chidambaram in July 2012.
There are around 70 personnel, drawn from both the Government and private sectors, in NATGRID.
Raman had joined the Indian Military Academy in 1986 after graduating from Sri Venkateshwara College, Delhi.
He quit as Captain in 1998 to pursue other interests.
Before joining NATGRID, Raman was the CEO of a joint venture between Mahindra and British Aerospace, Mahindra Defense Land System, in 2009.–PTI
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