Expressing his commitment to fight against naxalism, the Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that there is a need to develop strong and effective communication network in the naxal-affected areas so that there is quick information collection and immediate action.
Kamal Nath said that all efforts are being made to eliminate the menace of naxalism from the state.
He called for joint efforts of the union government and the state for permanent solution to end naxalism.
Kamal Nath was speaking at the review meeting of Chief Ministers of naxal-affected States called by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Vigyan Bhawan at New Delhi on Monday.
Chief Ministers of eleven states participated in the meeting. Informing about the steps taken by the State Government in dealing with naxalism in state, Kamal Nath said that HAWK force was created in the year 2000.
The participative developmental policies succeeded in limiting naxalism only to two districts Balaghat and Mandla.
The State Police has been instructed to co-ordinate with Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh Police.
Greater emphasis has been put on modernization of police force.
They have been equipped with modern gadgets such as trackers, GPS, drones, trap cameras, body protective armours and jungle terrain vehicles. He emphasised on coupling technologies with human intelligence.
Kamal Nath said that a Special Intelligence Branch has been formed for Naxal-affected areas.
Kamal Nath pointed out that in the naxal affected areas; poor connectivity is the main issue which hampers collection and sharing of information.
He requested the Government of India for making provision of at least 4G connectivity in Balaghat and Mandla districts.
He said that communication network in Naxal-affected areas heavily depends on police wireless due to poor telephone and mobile network coverage.
There is only 50% 2G connectivity in the tribal blocks. He requested the DMG for sanctioning of Rs 33.74 crores for which the proposal and DPR has been submitted to the central government under PMGY for constructions of two roads and one bridge in Balaghat and two roads and three bridges in Mandla district.
Shri Kamal Nath requested for early sanctioning of funds for the year 2019-20 for setting up of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) in one block in Balaghat (Birsa) and four blocks in Mandla (Mainpur, Beejadandi, Mawai and Mohgaon).
Chief Minister Kamal Nath expressed the need of financial inclusion of the citizens.
He said presently there are 6.6 bank branches per lakh of population in Balaghat and Mandla against the state average of 10.58, while area per bank branch is approx 102.5 sqkm against the state average of 49 sqkm.
To deal with such a situation, the state government has launched a financial literacy campaign on this year at 89 tribal blocks of the State from August 16 to September 15, 2019.
About 30 financial literacy camps will be organised during this period in each tribal block. This includes 12 tribal blocks of Mandla and Balaghat districts.