New Delhi, Dec. 31: The government today issued an executive order to buttress intelligence sharing across multiple agencies as part of efforts to bolster the fight against terror.

The order is intended to revamp the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), an intelligence-sharing node established by the government in the Intelligence Bureau seven years ago, but which has not so far delivered its assigned tasks.

“Beginning today, MAC has become operational on a 24 x 7 basis,” home minister P. Chidambaram said today.

“With the order spelling out the functions, powers, and duties of the MAC, I expect there will be a distinct improvement in the gathering and sharing of intelligence relating to terrorism, terrorist threats and terrorist offences,” he said.

The MAC had been established in December 2001 to facilitate sharing of intelligence relating to terrorism. But, Chidambaram said, “the MAC has not been able to fully achieve its objectives. Hence, it was decided to give a legal colour to the order establishing MAC”.

Under the order, the MAC will be obliged to share intelligence with all other intelligence agencies, including those run by states. The other agencies will have to share intelligence with the MAC, too.

“The MAC will have the function of gathering intelligence, it will have the duty to share intelligence and it will have power to obtain intelligence,” Chidambaram said.

He said subsidiaries of the MAC would be established in each state capital.

The terror attacks in Mumbai last month had triggered a fresh analysis of the degree of intelligence flow between various government agencies.