Home minister to brief states on Centre's plans and and seek their suggestion on them
PTI | July 6, 2010
To chalk out a cohesive strategy to counter the Maoist violence, the government has convened a meeting of chief ministers of Maoist-affected states on July 14 which is expected to be addressed by prime minister Manmohan Singh.
The day-long meeting of the chief ministers of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar will take stock of the situation arising out of the recent Maoists violence and will fine tune a fresh strategy being worked out to curb the Left Wing extremism.
The plan to redeploy the paramilitary forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations and development schemes undertaken under the aegis of the Planning Commission are expected to be discussed threadbare.
Home minister P Chidambaram will brief the chief ministers about the government's plans, seek their suggestions and discuss how to go about it.
The prime minister, who had described the Maoist menace as a grave threat to internal security, is likely to address the chief ministers and hear their views on the issue.
The meeting comes in the wake of a spurt in Maoist attacks. The ultras have killed at least 100 policemen in Chhattisgarh since April and derailed an express train in West Bengal that claimed the lives of nearly 150 people.
Government has been maintaining that accelerated development and calibrated police action are the two pillars of its anti-Maoist policy.
Chidambaram had said that on both fronts, the primary responsibility rests with the state governments though the Centre will offer all help.
According to an estimate, about 40,000 sq km areas in Maoist-affected states are under the control of Maoists.
Maoist violence has claimed the lives of over 10,000 civilians and security personnel in the last five years.
Out of a total of 10,268 casualties between 2005 and May 2010, 2,372 deaths have been reported in 2009 as against 1,769 in 2008 and 1,737 in 2007.
Besides, Maoists targeted 362 telephone towers, many school buildings, roads, culverts etc. in 2009 alone.
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