The Odisha Government on Monday demanded that the Central Government provide two more battalions of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to combat the Maoist menace in the State.
Briefing mediapersons after the anti-Maoist strategy meeting in New Delhi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “I urged upon the Home Minister to provide two more battalions of CAPF to Odisha immediately to undertake effective counter-measures against extremism in Chhattisgarh, Andhra and Odisha with proper synergy.”
He said his Government also demanded inclusion of Angul, Boudh and Subarnapur in the list of Maoist-infested districts and Kalahandi in the category of worst Maoist-affected districts’ list and development of the Jeypore Airstrip as an airport for anti-leftwing Extremist (lWE) logistic operations.
“I also urged the Home Minister to include the newly-affected districts of central parts of Odisha under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme and installation of 518 mobile towers in the Naxal-hit districts,” the CM stated.
“Anti-Maoist operations should be intensified in the State. We discussed various security issues like installation of mobile towers, road connectivity and acceleration of unfinished projects in Maoist infested areas,” he said.
The Chief Minister further informed that additional fund has been demanded for rail connectivity from Jeypore to Malkangiri and Nabrangpur and an assistance of Rs142 crore for the Gurupriya bridge.
The anti-Maoist strategy meeting of the eight concerned States was called by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to devise new strategies and framing a blueprint to combat the Maoist activities in these States and stress on proper coordination between the State police and the Central paramilitary forces.