Against the backdrop of the centre asking the president not to give assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said lack of adequate legal provisions was the "biggest" issue concerning internal security.

Modi, speaking at the Chief Ministers' Conference on Internal Security in New Delhi, also took on the centre on the issue of the National Investigation Agency, saying that founding fathers of the constitution had a long-term vision when they had kept law and order as a state subject.

He said that if the centre thought that present scheme of distribution of powers between the centre and the states needs revisiting, "then the issue may be looked in to totality beginning with the present structure of the constitution and we will participate in those discussions."

On the issue of dossiers being supplied to Pakistan on the involvement of people and state agencies of that country in the Mumbai terror attacks, he said the time was ripe to build inherent strength and institutional mechanisms so as not to be dependent on external forces for bringing perpetrators of crime within Indian territory to book.

He said to be successful in this objective, it is important that not only the country is strong but is also "perceived to be strong" by subversive elements within and outside India.

Modi had on Saturday took a jibe at the centre over price rise issue, saying the situation should prompt it to take innovative ways like fixing minimum support prices for five years to ensure food security.

"The current situation of helplessness that the Government of India finds itself in should prompt some soul searching among those who advocate that market mechanisms and free trade across borders will take care of India's food security," he said participating in the Conference of Chief Ministers on prices of essential commodities.

He also attacked the centre for attributing price rise to "adverse" weather conditions, contending that cost of essential commodities were contained when similar climatic conditions prevailed during 2000-02.