Odisha to PM: Waive charges for deployment of Central forces

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) for waiving of charges towards deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas in the state.

As per official sources, MHA has asked Odisha to pay `4561.23 crore towards deployment charges of CAPFs up to October 1, 2020.

Though Odisha had earlier in 2015 requested the Centre to reconsider the decision of charging the State government for deployment of Central forces, the then Union home minister through a letter on August 25,2015 had intimated that there had been no change in the extant policy of the Union government as approved earlier by the Cabinet committee on security.

As such, all states except the few Special Category States-NorthEast, J&K and Himachal Pradesh, are required to bear full charges for deployment of CAPFs in their respective territories. Further he intimated that due to overall constraint of resources, it was not feasible to exempt the state government from payment of deployment charges, the letter read.

“Left Wing Extremism is a national issue and a grave internal security threat to the integrity of the nation. This major challenge has to be addressed by both the government of India and the state governments) jointly. Besides, the government of Odisha has been proactive in spending from its scanty resources in creating and deploying security forces even amidst its tight fiscal situation,” the CM’s letter read.

Mr Patnaik also said that around 15 battalions of Odisha police have been raised, specifically to combat Left Wing Extremism.