Army units are currently undergoing jungle warfare training in naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, even as the Union government’s policy of not deploying the Army for anti-naxal operations anywhere in the country still remains in place.
The jungle warfare training is currently on at the Narainpur Manoeuvre Range in South Chhattisgarh. In recent years, the Army has been boosting its presence in Chhattisgarh through plans — approved earlier by the Union government — of setting up a training establishment as well as a sub-area headquarters in the naxal-infested state. The Maoists have a strong presence in the forest areas of the state.
The Union government retains the option of deploying the Army to fight the naxals in a worst-case scenario, if the situation in Chhattisgarh continues to worsen beyond control despite the presence of paramilitary forces.
In fact, at some of the previous Army commander conferences, the situation in the area under the Army’s Lucknow-based Central Command — that includes Chhattisgarh —had come up for discussion. Within the country, the Army is currently carrying out counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-east.
But significantly, apart from the jungle warfare training that has been carried out in the past one year in the state, the Army is also planning a massive initiative to reach out to the tribals in the state by providing assistance in amenities such as potable water, medical facilities, schools and providing recruitment training for eligible youths from the state. The initiative has been described officially as a “mega outreach by the Army in Chhattisgarh”.
“Army units are currently undergoing jungle warfare training in Narainpur Manoeuvre Range in south Chhattisgarh. The Army has been undertaking similar training for last one year,” the Army said on Sunday in an official statement. “... besides training, the Army has reached out to the tribals and their children with assistance in the form of basic amenities like potable water, electricity, education and medical facilities... These projects include medical and veterinary camps, recruitment training for eligible youths and upliftment of existing health centres, schools. Over the last one year the Army has extended its efforts to 21 villages in Narainpur district,” the Army said.
“It is also to be appreciated that after recruitment training under the aegis of the Army, there has been a visible spurt in tribal youth recruitment into the security forces,” the Army said.