Polling teams left Raipur on Saturday in an Indian Air Force (IAF) Chopper for duty in 16 sensitive polling centres of insurgency-infested Narayanpur district of Bastar.
The first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh is scheduled on November 12.
As per directive of Election Commission of India, in insurgency infested regions for smooth conduct of polling, heavy security cover has been provided to polling teams.
The transportation of the polling teams in the sensitive polling centres would be done using helicopters.
The security cover has been provided through State and Central para-military forces in adequate number, officials informed.
Incidentally, ahead of Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, as many as 62 Maoists had surrendered with 51 country made weapons before Bastar IG Vivekanand Sinha and Narayanpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Jitendra Shukla on November 6.
Out of 51 Maoists, 11 had surrendered without any weapons. At least five of the Maoists who surrendered had standing warrants against them, police said. The surrendered Maoists had been active members of the Tumeradi Jantana Sarkar under the Kutul area committee of Maoists for the past eight to nine years.
Eight districts of Chhattisgarh are among 30 in seven States which are most affected by Left Wing Extremist (LWE) violence, the Union Home Ministry informed had informed earlier.
These 30 districts contributed 88% of violent incidents and 94% of deaths in 2017, it informed.
The eight most affected districts in Chhattisagrh are-Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon and Sukma, the Ministry informed.
The Central Government has a holistic approach towards combating LWE wherein it supplements the efforts of the State Governments over a wide range of measures, it informed.
A National Policy and Action Plan has been put in place that envisages a multi-pronged strategy involving security related measures, developmental interventions and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities etc. Security related measures include assistance to LWE affected States by providing CAPF Battallions, helicopters, UAVs, construction of fortified police stations, funds for modernisation of State Police forces, arms and equipment, training assistance, sharing of intelligence etc.
Resolute implementation of the National Policy and Action Plan by the Central and State Governments has resulted in considerable improvement of the situation both in terms of reduction of violence and the geographical spread. The number of violent incidents has come down to 908 in 2017 from a high of 2258 in 2009. The geographical spread of violence has also shrunk considerably, it informed.
