Rajnath to review security in Maoist-hit states
NEW DELHI: Almost a fortnight after Maoists killed 25 CRPF personnel in an ambush in Chhattisgarh, the Centre will hold a ministerial-level review meeting on Monday to discuss security issues in Maoist-affected states.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the meeting at Vigyan Bhavan here, to be attended by Chief Ministers of 10 Maoist-hit states and union ministers for Road Transport and Highways, Railways, Civil Aviation, Rural Development, Power, New and Renewable Energy, and Telecom, a Home Ministry official said on Sunday.
“Operational issues, as well as infrastructure and logistics requirement, to combat the Maoists will be taken up, as also the rapid development of affected areas,” the official added.
The meeting will focus on devising new strategies to maintain the momentum achieved in 2016 in the drive against Maoists, notwithstanding a couple of incidents, he said.
“The day-long meeting will include two sessions to discuss issues like role of states in operations by Central Armed Police Forces, and raising and deployment of India Reserve Battalions and Special India Reserve Battalions.
“Capacity building and intelligence issues like vacancies in state police forces, capacity building of state intelligence units and other Ministry-wise related matters will be discussed,” the official said.
Officials of the ministry’s Left Wing Extremism Division — which monitors the situation in Maoist-hit states — will also participate, apart from secretaries in various ministries as well as chief secretaries and directors-general of paramilitary forces deployed in these states.
At least 106 districts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are affected by Maoist violence.
On April 24, Maoists killed 25 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Sukma area of Chhattisgarh. The minister had convened a meeting of Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Jharkhand in February 2015 to review security in the three worst affected districts of Sukma, Bijapur and Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.