Terming the Maoist problem as a national concern that poses a serious threat to national security, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said that the leftwing extremism menace has to be crushed firmly to uphold democracy and rule of law. He called for well-coordinated joint efforts for seamless operations against the Maoists across State borders.
Patnaik, while addressing an all-party meeting on the Maoist problem convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, stressed the need to address the issue of economic inequalities by providing special attention to the tribal and backward areas as a measure to put an end to the leftwing extremism.
He suggested creation of inter-State joint taskforces for coordinated anti-Maoist operations in the inter-State border areas and sharing of intelligence for effective and coordinated operations.
Patnaik said that tackling of the Maoist menace requires liberal Central budgetary allotment for ensuring adequate and equitable deployment of police forces, improvement of roads, communication, helicopter support, healthcare, education, public distribution system and other basic requirements.
Patnaik said the Maoists are taking advantage of the inaccessible forest areas as their hideouts and the porous State boundaries to escape from one State to another after committing acts of violence. For this, coordinated efforts for seamless operations are needed against the Maoists across the States’ borders.
Stressing the need to adopt a two-pronged strategy including firm enforcement of law and accelerated development, he was of the view that effective implementation of the strategy requires equitable deployment of Central forces amongst the Maoist-affected States and curbing of economic inequalities by providing special attention to the tribal and backward areas.
Referring to Odisha problem, he highlighted the delay caused in the construction of a bridge on Sileru river at Motu in Malkangiri district by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
He suggested that the neighbouring States join hands to help each other in effectively tackling the menace of leftwing extremism.
Patnaik informed that though a progressive improvement has been achieved in the Maoist situation in Odisha, the situation still remains sensitive particularly in the western parts of the State and along the Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh borders.
The Maoists are consolidating their position in the Sunabeda Reserve Forest areas by creating a Chhattisgarh-Odisha Border State Committee and are planning to strategically link up with the Saranda region of the Jharkhand-Odisha border and the Dandakaranya region of the Chhattisgarh-Andhra-Odisha border for escalating their activities, he said.