Nacta yet to be made fully functional

The only thing which makes the counterterror body operational is its helpline

ISLAMABAD: The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) has not been made fully functional despite tall claims by top government functionaries to make it an effective body to fight terror.

Its Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, which was supposed to be convened long ago, could not take place yet although a summary was sent to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to call the first meeting in mid-March this year.

In fact, not a single BoG meeting could be held so far, raising questions about the seriousness of stakeholders to make it an effective, functional body.

Apparently, the only known thing which Nacta had done was to make its official website functional, but it too was made non-operational a year ago due to the information it contained which the authorities believed was inappropriate for the masses.

The website had a ‘threats’ column which never carried any information about terror threats to guide the general public although several heinous terror activities took place in the country, including the massacre at Charsadda University and the blast in Lahore in which dozens of innocent citizens lost their lives.

The only thing which makes Nacta operational is its helpline which is overburdened at the moment with all sorts of calls being made. The citizens are yet to be educated that the helpline is dedicated to countering terrorism.

The body also has a proper public relations department which, after being constituted, never issued a press release of any sort. Nacta is supposed to be an independent body answerable directly to the prime minister but administratively it is run by the interior ministry. It was also supposed to play a key role in the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) while it is still looking to hire staff for its smooth takeoff and permanent building where it could operate efficiently.

Currently, Nacta is operating at the building of the National Police Safety Commission, Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2016.