Centre commits to eradicate Maoist extremism

Addressing the Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi on Wednesday, Rajnath said the security establishment is encouraged since the LWE insurgency is on the decline. The Union Home Minister, however, said that this should not lull us into a sense of complacency.

Rajnath Singh mentioned that LWE still remains the biggest threat to our internal security and nation building process. Thus, the LWE has remained on top of the agenda for interventions by the government.

The Union Home Minister said that the Centre has adopted a four-pronged strategy with the LWE affected states to tackle the Maoist threat comprising of security related interventions, development, securing rights and entitlements to the largely tribal hit population and public perception management.

The MHA has taken number of steps to improve the capacity of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and State Police Forces including the raising of the India Reserve Battalions (IRBs).

The Home Minister mentioned that over hundred battalions of CAPFs and 10 COBRA (Commando Battalions for Resolute Action) battalions have been deployed for anti-LWE operations.

In a presentation on LWE to the members of the committee, details were provided about monitoring mechanism, security related measures such as modernization of state police forces, security related expenditure, construction of 400 fortified police stations, setting up of 21 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist (CIAT) schools, recruitment in CAPFs, creation of unified commands in states and an effective media plan.

The development related measures such as implementation of flagship programmes and the rights of scheduled tribes and traditional forest dwellers and implementation of Panchayats extension to scheduled areas act was also discussed in the meeting.

On the development front, the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) being implemented in 88 LWE affected districts since 2010 has been subsumed into the “Additional Central Assistance to LWE Affected Districts” programme.

Besides, nearly 5,500 kms of road length are being laid out in 34 severely LWE affected districts.

With a view to address the problem of alienation among tribals, over 12 lakh title deeds have been distributed to Adivasis in the LWE affected states under the path-breaking Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

The members discussed various aspects of Left Wing Extremism ranging from economic development, security, causes and effects of the problem, ideology, coordination between central and state security forces and lack of communication in the affected states.

The issues of corruption, atrocities on tribals and women and the status of the constitution of National Tribal Welfare Council were also mentioned.

Rajnath Singh thanked the members for valuable suggestions and informed that these will be very useful for the government in finalizing its policy and approach to deal with Left Wing Extremism.

The Home Minister informed the members that the government is committed for ‘jal, jameen and jungle’ rights of the tribals and necessary consultations with the concerned ministries are being carried out.

Sharing the concerns of the members regarding issues of CAPF, Union Home Minister informed that a historic decision has been taken recently by him to enhance the financial powers of the Directors General of CAPFs for procurement.

He mentioned that the government is committed to look into other concerns of the CAPF members and an appropriate decision will be taken shortly after consulting the concerned ministries/departments.

The Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju also spoke on this occasion and thanked the members for giving valuable inputs.

Among the prominent names who figured in the meeting were Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kirti Azad, Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, Dr. Bhagirath Prasad, Devendra Singh, Faizal P.P. Mohammed, Geetha Kothapalli, Harishchandra Deoram Chavan, Hukum Singh, Nalin Kumar Kateel, Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Dr. Thokchom Meinya and T.G. Venkatesh Babu from Lok Sabha and Sharad Pawar, Mukul Roy, Avinash Rai Khanna, Basawaraj Patil, Devender Goud T, H.K. Dua, K.C. Tyagi and S. Muthukaruppan from Rajya Sabha.