MHA to refresh Naxal states list
Prompted by the rising Naxal violence, the Centre has begun the process of identifying new districts where Naxal violence has spread. The government is mulling expanding its current list of 34 “worst affected’’ districts with the Union home ministry conducting a survey to study the “violence profile’’ of districts plagued by Left Wing
Extremism (LWE) across the country. The move is aimed at giving the government’s anti-Naxal strategy — consisting of police action and development — a hard push.
The Centre’s directive to pay special attention to contain growing Naxal activities has prompted several states such as West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar to press for the inclusion of more Naxalite-hit districts getting special Central assistance for implementation of integrated security and development action plans.
“The Naxal problem might be a little more serious than it has been assessed so far. The survey will identify those districts where Maoist violence is more than 20 per cent. Such districts will qualify for Central assistance under the security related expenditure (SRE) scheme,” government sources said. The Union home ministry has already approached the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for enhanced funds under the security-related expenditure (SRE) scheme to help the affected states improve infrastructure in the Maoist-infested areas.
“As a first step, we will increase the districts covered under the SRE scheme after the survey is complete. The socio-economic factors will then form the basis for some of these districts to be included in the current list of 34 districts,” an official said,
adding that the spurt in Maoist violence in states such as West Bengal will be taken into consideration. Ministry officials, however, confessed that a cautious approach will need to be adopted while increasing central assistance to states to ensure the money allocated is being spent judiciously and effectively.
In 2007-2008, the home ministry conducted a detailed analysis of the spread and trends of Naxalite violence identifying 34 ‘’worst affected’’ spread across eight states. Of the 34 districts, 11 are in Jharkhand, seven in Chhattisgarh, six in Bihar, five in Orissa, two in Maharashtra, one each in Andhra Pradesh, UP and Madhya Pradesh.
Post new comment