New Delhi, July 14: Describing Naxals as “a part of our society”, the Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, on Wednesday warned that “enforcement action alone” would lead to “wider alienation” of such elements and pressed for an integrated approach to deal with the problem.
He criticised the Planning Commission’s integrated action plan for the development of the Naxal-affected areas, saying it covered only 35 of the 83 such districts and the rest would remain backward, thus hampering efforts to solve the problem.
Addressing a meeting of Naxal-affected states convened by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Kumar attacked the central government, saying it was not providing adequate support to his state for tackling Naxalism.
He said Left-wing extremism could be tackled through sustained development but this needs the Centre’s supportive approach to states like Bihar.
“It cannot be disputed that intensive all-round development is the final solution for the Left-wing extremism problem,” he underlined.
Mr Kumar complained that despite concerns expressed over the Naxal situation, his state has “not received the requisite support from the Centre.