On 24 August 2026, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the 9th National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference-2026 in New Delhi. Before the inauguration he laid a wreath at the Martyrs' column, honouring Intelligence Bureau personnel killed in the line of duty. The two-day conference ran in hybrid format and drew over 850 participants: Ministers of State for Home Affairs, the Union Home Secretary, Deputy National Security Advisers and the heads of the CAPFs and Central Police Organisations attended in Delhi, while DGsP of States and Union Territories, cutting-edge-level young police officers and domain experts joined virtually.
That last detail is the point of the whole exercise. A Superintendent of Police handling a district in Manipur and a Deputy NSA in South Block do not otherwise sit in the same discussion. The NSS Conference exists precisely to close that gap — the format was ordered by the Prime Minister at the DGsP/IGsP Conference of 2016, and it has been held annually in hybrid mode since 2021. Participation has grown steadily: the 7th edition in 2024 had roughly 750 officers; this year's had 850+.
What the two days were actually about
Day one covered five hard files. Counter-terrorism response; the fusion, analysis and operationalisation of intelligence through the Multi Agency Centre (MAC); a vision document on narcotics control; detection and deportation of illegal migrants; and a policy framework against cyber-crime and Pakistan's proxy warfare.
The Home Minister's specific directions are the examinable part. On terrorism and radicalisation he pressed for training to implement the MHA's PRAHAAR scheme, for expediting trials by bringing back fugitives and using trial-in-absentia provisions, and for a comprehensive, integrated approach to investigating UAPA cases. He directed that AI-based analysis of information already sitting on MAC platforms be used to generate standard operating procedures, and told every agency to take strict measures against infiltration.
Day two moved to the threats that do not yet have settled doctrine: sub-aerial systems (the drone and low-altitude threat band that sits below conventional air defence), securing the blue economy, information warfare, and the need for a bio-security framework.
The organisations in the room, and what each one does
India's internal-security system is not one agency. It is a layered set of bodies with different legal parents, and NDA papers test exactly this separation — worth pinning down alongside the rest of your NDA general knowledge preparation.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is the internal-intelligence and counter-intelligence arm under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was formed on 23 December 1887 as the Central Special Branch, took the name Intelligence Bureau in 1920, and is often described as the oldest surviving intelligence organisation in the world. Until 1968 it handled both domestic and foreign intelligence; that year the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) was carved out for external intelligence, leaving the IB with the internal brief.
The Multi Agency Centre (MAC) is the IB-run platform where intelligence from different agencies is pooled. It was created in December 2001, on the back of the Kargil Review Committee and the Group of Ministers report — the GoM was constituted on 17 April 2000 and reported on 26 February 2001. After 26/11 in 2008, Subsidiary MACs were pushed out to State capitals so that terrorism intelligence reached district police. Shah's demand for AI-driven analysis of MAC data is an admission that the platform now holds more than humans can read.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the federal counter-terror investigating agency, created by the NIA Act, 2008, passed by Parliament on 31 December 2008 in direct response to 26/11. The 2019 amendment widened its scheduled offences to include human trafficking, manufacture and sale of prohibited arms, and cyber-terrorism, allowed it to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India affecting Indian citizens and interests, and let the Centre designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts even outside the State where the offence occurred.
The National Security Guard (NSG) — the "Black Cats" — is the federal contingency force for counter-terrorism and hostage rescue. It was raised in 1984 after Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and given statutory form by the National Security Guard Act, 1986. It is headquartered at Manesar, Haryana.
The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are the seven forces under the MHA: CRPF (largest; internal security and counter-insurgency), BSF (Pakistan and Bangladesh borders), CISF (critical installations, airports, metros, PSUs), ITBP (China border, high-altitude), SSB (Nepal and Bhutan borders), NSG, and Assam Rifles (Myanmar border and Northeast counter-insurgency). Their combined sanctioned strength crossed 10 lakh — 10,78,514 posts as of January 2017, with about 15%, or 1,58,591 posts, vacant at that time. Two origin dates recur in papers: the CRPF began as the Crown Representative's Police on 27 July 1939 and was renamed under the CRPF Act, 1949; the Assam Rifles was raised as the Cachar Levy in 1835, making it the oldest of the lot, and uniquely runs on dual control — administrative control with the MHA, operational control with the Indian Army.
Alongside these sit the newer functional bodies the conference kept referring to: the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), launched as an MHA scheme in 2018 and made an attached office of the MHA with effect from 1 July 2024; and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), which owns the training pipeline.
PRAHAAR: putting counter-terror doctrine on paper
The instruction to train for PRAHAAR matters because PRAHAAR is new. The MHA released it in February 2026 as India's first national counter-terrorism policy and strategy — the document itself carries 23 February 2026, though some secondary write-ups date the release two days later. Until then, India fought terrorism with laws, agencies and standing practice, but without a single published doctrine.
The acronym is a seven-pillar structure: Prevention of attacks; Responses that are swift and proportionate; Aggregating internal capacities into a whole-of-government approach; Human rights and rule-of-law based processes; Attenuating the conditions that enable terrorism, including radicalisation; Aligning international counter-terror efforts; and Recovery and resilience through a whole-of-society approach. The fourth pillar is worth noticing — a counter-terrorism doctrine that writes rule-of-law compliance into its own spine is making a claim about legitimacy, not just capability. Delivery runs through BPR&D and NSG for training, MAC for prevention-stage intelligence, and the NIA with State police for prosecution.
What the new criminal codes changed for the investigator
Shah's push on trial in absentia is anchored in the three criminal codes that replaced the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act with effect from 1 July 2024 — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.
Section 356 of the BNSS permits inquiry, trial and judgment in absentia where an accused has been declared a proclaimed offender, has absconded to evade trial, and there is no immediate prospect of arrest. The court must wait 90 days from the framing of charge before starting. Depositions recorded in the accused's absence stand as evidence against him, but if he is later arrested and produced, the court may permit him to examine the evidence taken while he was away.
This is a genuine shift. Under the old code, an absconding accused could freeze a terrorism prosecution indefinitely simply by staying abroad; the case would sit at the charge stage while witnesses aged, died or turned. Section 356 removes that veto. It also explains why the Home Minister paired "bringing back fugitives" with "trial in absentia" in the same breath — extradition and in-absentia trial are two routes to the same objective, and a conviction in absentia strengthens the extradition request that follows.
The other statute that runs through counter-terror work is the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Its 2019 amendment rewrote Section 35 to let the Centre designate individuals, not merely organisations, as terrorists, listing them in the Fourth Schedule; it also allowed investigation by NIA officers of Inspector rank and above, and required the Director-General of the NIA's approval for attaching property representing proceeds of terrorism in NIA-investigated cases.
Why the Home Minister convenes and does not command
Here is the constitutional knot that makes this conference necessary rather than merely useful — and a favourite of examiners working across the polity and security syllabus.
In the Seventh Schedule, public order is Entry 1 and police is Entry 2 of the State List. Law enforcement is, constitutionally, State business. The Union's levers are indirect but real. Entry 2A of the Union List — inserted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, section 57, with effect from 3 January 1977 — covers the deployment of any armed force of the Union in any State in aid of the civil power, and Entry 2 of the State List is expressly made subject to it. Note the trap: a fair amount of study material misattributes Entry 2A to the 44th Amendment; the constitutional footnote says 42nd. Entry 8 of the Union List covers the Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation. And Article 355 places a duty on the Union "to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance".
So the Union Home Minister can deploy CAPFs, run federal agencies, legislate on terrorism, and set doctrine. What he cannot do is issue an executive order to a State's police force. Every scheme the conference discussed — PRAHAAR training, MAC feeds, cyber-crime frameworks, the narcotics vision document — reaches the ground only through State DGsP who report to their own Chief Ministers. That is exactly why the participant list mattered more than the agenda: getting all DGsP and cutting-edge officers into a single hybrid room is the practical substitute for a command relationship the Constitution does not grant.
The honest counterpoint
Three criticisms are worth carrying, because an essay or an SSB group discussion that only recites the architecture reads thin.
First, federal friction is structural, not incidental. States have periodically objected to central agency action within their territory, and several have withdrawn or restricted general consent for the CBI. Central agencies operating on State subjects will always face the charge of encroachment, whatever the merits of a given case.
Second, special anti-terror law carries a well-documented cost. UAPA's stringent bail regime, combined with long investigation timelines, means extended pre-trial custody in a system where conviction rates in such cases are low. PRAHAAR's explicit human-rights pillar is best read as an acknowledgement of that criticism rather than a refutation of it.
Third, capacity is the binding constraint. A 15% vacancy level across a force of more than 10 lakh, and chronic shortfalls in State police strength against sanctioned numbers, mean that doctrine, platforms and SOPs are being layered on a manpower base that is already stretched. AI analysis of MAC data is attractive partly because trained analysts are scarce.
🔑 Revision block
The event. 24–25 August 2026 · 9th National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference, New Delhi · inaugurated by Amit Shah, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation · hybrid · 850+ participants · wreath at the Martyrs' column for IB personnel.
Who was there. MoS Home · Union Home Secretary · Deputy NSAs · heads of CAPFs/CPOs in Delhi → DGsP of States/UTs, cutting-edge officers and domain experts virtual.
Day 1 agenda. Counter-terrorism · intelligence fusion via MAC · narcotics vision document · illegal-migrant detection and deportation · cyber-crime and Pakistan's proxy warfare. Day 2: sub-aerial systems · blue economy · information warfare · bio-security framework.
The directions. PRAHAAR training · fugitives back + trial in absentia · integrated UAPA investigation · AI analysis of MAC data → SOPs · strict anti-infiltration measures.
Founding dates to carry. IB 1887 (as Central Special Branch; renamed 1920; R&AW split off 1968) · Assam Rifles 1835 (oldest) · CRPF 1939 as Crown Representative's Police, CRPF Act 1949 · NSG raised 1984, NSG Act 1986, HQ Manesar · MAC December 2001 · NIA Act 2008 · I4C 2018, MHA attached office 1 July 2024 · PRAHAAR February 2026.
The legal basis. BNS/BNSS/BSA in force 1 July 2024 · BNSS Section 356 — in-absentia trial of a proclaimed offender, 90 days after framing of charge · UAPA 1967, 2019 amendment → individuals named terrorists under Section 35, listed in the Fourth Schedule.
The federal line. Public order = State List Entry 1 · police = State List Entry 2, subject to Union List Entry 2A (42nd Amendment, 1976, w.e.f. 3 January 1977) · Union List Entry 8 = Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation · Article 355 = Union's duty to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance.
The trap. Entry 2A is often wrongly credited to the 44th Amendment — it is the 42nd. Also: the NSG is a CAPF, not an Army formation; the Assam Rifles is the only force with MHA administrative + Army operational control.
The two-sided line, for essay and GD. India has moved from ad-hoc counter-terror practice to written doctrine, federal investigation and pooled intelligence → but delivery still runs through State police the Union cannot command, on a manpower base carrying roughly 15% vacancies.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. The 9th National Security Strategies Conference-2026 was inaugurated in New Delhi by: (a) the Union Home Minister (b) the Defence Minister (c) the National Security Adviser (d) the Chief of Defence Staff → (a) — Shri Amit Shah, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, on 24 August 2026.
Q2. The Multi Agency Centre (MAC) functions under which organisation? (a) Intelligence Bureau (b) Research and Analysis Wing (c) National Investigation Agency (d) National Security Guard → (a) — MAC was created in December 2001 and is run by the IB.
Q3. Under the Seventh Schedule, "police" appears as: (a) Entry 2 of the State List (b) Entry 2 of the Union List (c) Entry 1 of the Concurrent List (d) Entry 8 of the Union List → (a) — Entry 2 of the State List, subject to Entry 2A of the Union List.
Q4. The National Security Guard was given statutory form by an Act of: (a) 1986 (b) 1984 (c) 1949 (d) 2008 → (a) — the NSG was raised in 1984 and the NSG Act came in 1986.
Q5. PRAHAAR, referred to at the conference, is: (a) India's national counter-terrorism policy and strategy (b) a coastal-security exercise (c) an anti-drone weapon system (d) a CAPF recruitment scheme → (a) — the MHA released it in February 2026 as India's first national counter-terrorism policy and strategy.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Internal security is a standing NDA GAT set, and it repeats along four predictable lines. First, which force does what — matching CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, NSG and Assam Rifles to their borders and roles, and the count of seven CAPFs. Second, founding years and parent ministries — IB, NSG, NIA, MAC, and the standing distinction that CAPFs sit under the MHA while the three Services sit under the Ministry of Defence. Third, the constitutional entries — police and public order in the State List, Entry 2A in the Union List, Article 355. Fourth, the statute behind the headline — UAPA and now the BNSS.
The traps are consistent: calling the CAPFs "Armed Forces of the Union" in the Ministry of Defence sense, placing the NSG under the Army, giving the Assam Rifles a single controlling ministry, and attributing Entry 2A to the 44th Amendment. The fresh 2026 hook is the pairing of PRAHAAR with BNSS Section 356 — a policy document and a procedural section that entered the syllabus within two years of each other, which is exactly the combination examiners like. We describe the pattern here, not any specific past question.
Preparing for the NDA? Internal security is one of the highest-yield GAT areas and near-certain ground in the SSB interview and group discussion. Keep up with our daily NDA current affairs, and train with serving and retired officers in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Col Vijyanat Thakur — Defence and internal-security faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).
Source: PIB / Ministry of Home Affairs, 24 August 2026 (Release ID 2302939). Background facts cross-verified with independent sources.