Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik participated in the Review Meeting of Left Wing Extremism affected States chaired by Hon’ble Union Home Minister in New Delhi on the 8th of May, 2017.
At the outset, Chief Minister stated that Left Wing Extremism is one of the most critical internal security challenges faced by the Nation in present times and the recent incident of attack on the Security Forces in Sukma area of Chhattisgarh is highly
disconcerting. The situation calls for serious analysis, strategic review and calibrated action, he stated.
Chief Minister stated that determined efforts of the State to contain the extremist activities have been substantially successful in weaning away the population in the affected areas of the State from the ideology of violence and extremism. During 2016 and 2017 till date, not only large number of LWE cadres have been neutralised and arrested but an encouraging number of cadres have also surrendered due to extremely pro-active surrender and rehabilitation policy of the State Government.
On the development front, Chief Minister informed that the State Government’s focus on holistic development of the tribal districts in southern parts of the State is paying dividends through significant enhancement of the human resources. Employment generation, electrification of villages, provision of houses and augmented road and bridge connectivity are bringing visible changes in the lives of the people in that area. Chief Minister also underlined the success of Odisha in enrolment of tribal boys and girls in schools, creation of residential facilities and provision of scholarships.
Chief Minister reiterated his demand that Union Government should provide 2 extra Battalions of CAPF to Odisha immediately to enable the State to take effective measures to contain infiltration of LWE cadres from Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh and to take counter measures in coordination with these State Governments. This extra deployment assumes urgency to bring some symmetry in State-wise deployment. Further, Hon’ble Chief Minister gave some specific proposals of including certain districts and denotifying some districts in the Security Related Expenditure Scheme at the earliest in response to the changing ground situation.
Emphasising the importance of adequate infrastructural development in the LWE affected areas, Chief Minister stated that the existing mobile towers sanctioned in the first phase of LWE Scheme should be replaced with regular trans-receiver units with higher bandwidth and the additional locations identified for the second phase should be equipped with appropriate state-of-the-art technology so that the required purpose is served. Similarly, he urged upon the Ministry of Railways to provide for adequate funds and undertake completion of Malkangiri-Jeypore and Jeypore-Nawarangpur Railway Lines in a time bound manner as this will create a direct impact on the economy of these areas. Chief Minister also advised that the Jeypore Airstrip should be taken up for development as an Airport, both for passenger and anti-LWE logistic operations. Further, Union Government should immediately release the balance Rs.142.25 crore for the strategic Gurupriya Bridge which the State Government is determined to complete in the next few months.
Union Government was also urged upon to adopt the road specifications of RRP-I in the new Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism (RCPLWE) Areas scheme. This will result in better roads for the LWE affected districts. The Union Government was also requested to give the relaxation of 100+ population for PMGSY for all IAP districts instead of only 38 blocks in 12 districts. This will help in improving connectivity in the tribal and backward districts of the State.
Chief Minister reiterated that Union Government should not claim
reimbursement of expenditure on deployment of CAPF in LWE affected States since LWE is a National Internal Security threat and the State Governments themselves are investing sizeably from their own meagre resources to contain the menace. He further assured that Odisha will continue to implement the two pronged strategy of enhanced security and sustained and holistic development of tribal areas and that the Union Government should provide full support to the State Government towards this end.
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