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It's a RAW deal for intel agency
Sachin Parashar, TNN 26 July 2009, 02:00am IST
NEW DELHI: At a time when Pakistan has for the first time managed to bring its troubled Baluchistan province in the official dialogue framework with India, it's perhaps ironical that India's external intelligence agency RAW is fighting hard to maintain even the basic operational efficiency because of acute staff shortage.
A government analysis of the functioning of the agency has revealed that the agency needs to increase its staff intake by at least 10-15% in the next five years to carry out its work properly. Time and again Pakistan has blamed RAW for fomenting trouble in the region and, in what is being described as a diplomatic victory for Islamabad, India relented last week when it agreed to discuss the issue of Baluchistan.
The analysis was carried out by a joint task force on intelligence which has sent its final report recommending increase in the staff intake to the CCS.
In fact, as things stand now, the agency is having to recruit retired officials for at least 2-3 years to retain its minimum efficiency level.
According to senior security officials, constant one-upmanship between IPS officers and in-house staff, lack of officers with requisite financial and language skills to penetrate hostile networks in foreign land, aversion to outsourcing and not being able to recruit the best available talent directly from universities over many decades have taken their toll on the agency. "As terrorists look for new ways and means to strike, it's time our intelligence agencies evolved, or perhaps were allowed to evolve considering there has to be a political will to effect any major change," said a senior official.
"Staff shortage is a major concern for agencies like RAW and IB because the most important work here is done at the level of handlers who deal with informers. A handler ideally should not be dealing with more than 5-6 informers but if there is shortage at the level of handlers, this number can go up leading to adverse impact on the functioning of the unit," said a security official. In fact, IB too, sources said, needs to increase its staff intake by 10%, according to a government report.
What is making matters worse for RAW though is the highly complicated manner in which appointment is done preventing young talent from filtering in. There is no centralised recruitment at the lower level and those aspiring to join the agency can route their applications to the regional officers only if they have a relative or friend in the agency to guide them.
A government analysis of the functioning of RAW has revealed that the agency needs to increase its staff intake by at least 10-15% in the next five years to carry out its work properly.
Sachin Parashar, TNN 26 July 2009, 02:00am IST
NEW DELHI: At a time when Pakistan has for the first time managed to bring its troubled Baluchistan province in the official dialogue framework with India, it's perhaps ironical that India's external intelligence agency RAW is fighting hard to maintain even the basic operational efficiency because of acute staff shortage.
A government analysis of the functioning of the agency has revealed that the agency needs to increase its staff intake by at least 10-15% in the next five years to carry out its work properly. Time and again Pakistan has blamed RAW for fomenting trouble in the region and, in what is being described as a diplomatic victory for Islamabad, India relented last week when it agreed to discuss the issue of Baluchistan.
The analysis was carried out by a joint task force on intelligence which has sent its final report recommending increase in the staff intake to the CCS.
In fact, as things stand now, the agency is having to recruit retired officials for at least 2-3 years to retain its minimum efficiency level.
According to senior security officials, constant one-upmanship between IPS officers and in-house staff, lack of officers with requisite financial and language skills to penetrate hostile networks in foreign land, aversion to outsourcing and not being able to recruit the best available talent directly from universities over many decades have taken their toll on the agency. "As terrorists look for new ways and means to strike, it's time our intelligence agencies evolved, or perhaps were allowed to evolve considering there has to be a political will to effect any major change," said a senior official.
"Staff shortage is a major concern for agencies like RAW and IB because the most important work here is done at the level of handlers who deal with informers. A handler ideally should not be dealing with more than 5-6 informers but if there is shortage at the level of handlers, this number can go up leading to adverse impact on the functioning of the unit," said a security official. In fact, IB too, sources said, needs to increase its staff intake by 10%, according to a government report.
What is making matters worse for RAW though is the highly complicated manner in which appointment is done preventing young talent from filtering in. There is no centralised recruitment at the lower level and those aspiring to join the agency can route their applications to the regional officers only if they have a relative or friend in the agency to guide them.
A government analysis of the functioning of RAW has revealed that the agency needs to increase its staff intake by at least 10-15% in the next five years to carry out its work properly.
