Multi-Agency Centre(MAC): States told to share intel on common grid

What is the News?

The Union government has asked the States to share more intelligence inputs through the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC). 

What is a Multi-Agency Centre(MAC)?

MAC is a common counter-terrorism grid under the Intelligence Bureau. It was made operational in 2001 following the Kargil War.

Purpose: It is the nodal agency for the exchange of intelligence collected by various agencies and police forces across the country.

Headquarters: The national-level MAC is located in Delhi, while state capitals have subsidiary MACs(SMACs) where daily meetings are held to analyse inputs received in the previous 24 hours.

Note: Multi-Agency Centre(MAC) is different from Crime Multi-Agency Centre(Cri-MAC). Cri-MAC was launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2020 to share information between various police forces on heinous crimes and other issues related to interstate coordination.

Source: This post is based on the article ‘States told to share intel on common grid’ published in The Hindu on 5th Jan 2022.