What are the internal security challenges being faced by India? Give out the role of Central Intelligence and Investigative Agencies tasked to counter such threats.
Approach · directive: “what / give out”
What it asks · List India's main internal-security challenges and explain the roles of the central intelligence and investigative agencies in countering them.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- List the internal security challenges India faces, traditional and emerging
- Give out the role of the central intelligence agencies
- Give out the role of the central investigative agencies, and how they are coordinated
Open with · Left-wing extremist violence fell from 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024, and affected districts from 126 to 38: proof that intelligence, policing and development can beat an internal threat together, and India's other challenges demand the same chain.
Cover
- Traditional challenges: cross-border terrorism and infiltration in J&K, left-wing extremism (1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024; districts 126 to 38, six most affected), North-East insurgency, communal and caste violence.
- Emerging challenges: cyber attacks and online radicalisation, drug trafficking and narco-terror, terror financing and fake currency, drone and maritime threats.
- Intelligence agencies: IB (domestic, runs the Multi Agency Centre, rebuilt 2025), R&AW (external), NTRO (technical), FIU-IND (financial); NATGRID links databases.
- Investigative agencies: NIA (terror; 2019 amendment added trafficking, prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, explosives and extra-territorial jurisdiction), CBI, ED (PMLA), NCB; CERT-In and I4C on cyber crime.
- Coordination: MAC and state SMACs, NATGRID, state Special Branches and police as first responders.
- Gaps: overlapping mandates, weak Centre-State coordination, no statutory basis or parliamentary oversight for intelligence bodies, limited cyber capacity.
- Way forward: statutory charter, real-time Centre-State fusion, cyber and drone capacity; Naxal-free target of 31 March 2026.
Close with · The target of a Naxal-free India by 31 March 2026 shows what coordinated agencies can aim for; the same seamless chain must now meet the cyber, narco and hybrid threats of the coming decade.
Add value (verified)
- MHA (PIB backgrounder, April 2025): LWE violence fell from a peak of 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024 (81% down); deaths of civilians and security forces fell from 1,005 to 150 (85%).PIB backgrounder: Left Wing Extremism, decline in violence (April 2025) ↗“Incidents of violence by LWE which reached its highest level of 1936 in 2010 have reduced to 374 in 2024 i.e. a reduction of 81%. The total number of deaths (civilians + security forces) has also reduced by 85% during this period from 1005 deaths in 2010 to 150 in 2024.”
- MHA (PIB backgrounder, April 2025): LWE-affected districts fell from 126 to 90 (April 2018), 70 (July 2021) and 38 (April 2024); most-affected districts from 12 to 6, four in Chhattisgarh, one each in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.PIB backgrounder: Left Wing Extremism, affected districts (April 2025) ↗“The number of LWE affected districts reduced from 126 to 90 in April 2018, 70 in July 2021 and further to 38 in April-2024. Out of total Naxalism-affected districts, number of most affected districts has been reduced from 12 to 6, which include four districts from Chhattisgarh (Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Sukma), one from Jharkhand (West Singhbhum), and one from Maharashtra (Gadchiroli).”
- MHA (PIB backgrounder, April 2025): the government is committed to eliminating Naxalism completely by 31 March 2026.PIB backgrounder: Left Wing Extremism, government commitment (April 2025) ↗“committed to completely eliminate Naxalism by 31st March 2026, since Naxalism is seen as the biggest obstacle in the development of remote areas and tribal villages”
- MHA (Rajya Sabha reply, 3 August 2022): the NIA Act was amended in 2019 to add human trafficking, manufacture and sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and Explosive Substances Act offences, and to extend the NIA's jurisdiction beyond India.PIB: Functioning of NIA (Ministry of Home Affairs, 3 August 2022) ↗“The NIA Act was amended in year 2019 to enlarge the mandate of the NIA by inclusion of offences related to human trafficking, manufacture & sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and expand its jurisdictions beyond India.”
- New Multi Agency Centre inaugurated at North Block (May 2025): a seamless, integrated platform to synergise the efforts of all security and intelligence agencies.PIB: Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurates the new Multi Agency Centre (MAC) at North Block, New Delhi ↗“The new MAC will synergise the efforts of all agencies and provide a seamless and integrated platform”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 331words · Minimalist IAS
Left-wing extremist violence fell from 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024, and affected districts from 126 to 38 (MHA): proof that intelligence, policing and development can beat an internal threat together. India's other challenges now demand the same chain.
Internal security challenges India faces
Internal security threats: Cross-border terrorism in J&K; Left-wing extremism; North-East insurgency; Communal and caste violence; Cyber attacks and radicalisation; Narco-terror, fake currency, drones
- Traditional: cross-border terrorism and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir; left-wing extremism, concentrated, as of April 2025, in six most-affected districts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra; insurgency in parts of the North-East.
- Emerging: cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, online radicalisation, drug trafficking and narco-terror, terror financing, and drone and maritime threats.
Role of the central intelligence agencies
- Intelligence Bureau: domestic intelligence and counter-terrorism; it runs the Multi Agency Centre, rebuilt in 2025 as a seamless, integrated platform that pools inputs from central and state agencies.
- R&AW: external intelligence on threats that originate abroad.
- NTRO: technical, satellite and cyber intelligence.
- FIU-IND: financial intelligence on suspicious transactions that fund terror and crime; NATGRID links agency databases for authorised users.
Role of the central investigative agencies
- NIA: investigates and prosecutes terror cases across states; the 2019 amendment added human trafficking, prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and explosives offences, and jurisdiction beyond India.
- CBI, ED, NCB: corruption and inter-state crime; money laundering under PMLA; narcotics and its narco-terror links.
- CERT-In and I4C: cyber incident response and coordination against cyber crime, with state police as first responders.
Gaps and way forward
- Legal footing: a statutory charter and parliamentary oversight for the intelligence agencies.
- Centre-State fusion: state Special Branches wired into MAC and NATGRID in real time, with joint training.
- Capacity: cyber forensics, drone defence and common data standards across agencies.
The government's April 2025 commitment to eliminate Naxalism by 31 March 2026, a date now past, shows what coordinated agencies can aim for; the same seamless chain must now meet the cyber, narco and hybrid threats of the coming decade.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
