Evolution of a ‘crown jewel’Out of that psychological aftershock emerged institutional expansions, but the technological crown jewel was the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID). An integration that unsettlesThe second development that is even more unsettling is the reported integration of NATGRID with the National Population Register (NPR). The lack of course correctionDefenders will fall back on the familiar claim that NATGRID is a matter of life and death. Is it impolite to ask whether there was an “intelligence failure” even with NATGRID in place? Without these, NATGRID is an architecture of suspicion, built in the name of safety and normalised through fear, but functioning in the service of digital authoritarianism.

Source: The Hindu January 08, 2026 05:01 UTC