NEW DELHI: Concerned over unplanned action against Maoists, the Home Ministry has asked Naxal-affected states to chalk out detailed programme for offensive against extremists as well as for development.
Home Minister P Chidambaram during his recent visit to Orissa and Jharkhand has conveyed to the two state governments that without foolproof planning of police action and development programmes, the menace could not be tackled successfully, official sources said.
State governments have not been able to get desired results in their action against the Maoists due to unplanned offensives and lack of coordination among state police forces.
Though the state governments were conducting operations against the Naxals and undertaking developmental works, these have been done on piece-meal basis and not under any detailed plan.
The problem is visible in most of the affected states which led to the Home Minister’s visits to Orissa and Jharkhand. He is schedule to visit Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra on November 15 with the same purpose.
Union Home Secretary R K Singh too had undertaken a visit to Bihar last week during which he toured several Naxal-hit areas to have an on the spot assessment of the situation.
However, sources said, situation in Bihar is better than other extremist affected states due to various development initiatives taken by the state government.
Naxal violence has been reported in areas falling under 270 police stations in 64 districts in eight states.
Up to August, there have been around 850 incidents (1,025 last year), resulting in around 300 deaths (473 last year).
The Central government has shouldered its share of responsibility in dealing with the Maoists and has deployed 71 battalions (around 71,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces.
The budget allocation under Security Related Expenditure scheme has been increased to Rs 337 crore in 2011-12 as against only Rs 80 crore in 2008-09. (PTI)