The Odisha Government has reiterated its oft-repeated version that as the Maoist menace is a Pan-India phenomenon and not exclusive to any particular State, all efforts made to eliminate this hazard should be treated with a national perspective.
Making yet another appeal, the State Government has urged the Union Government to waive Rs1,350 crore spent on deployment of Central Paramilitary Forces (CMPFs) in the Maoist zones in the State. The State Government has recently apprised about this to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) through a communication.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has made it clear to Union Minister Home Affairs Rajnath Singh that such amounts should not be claimed from the Maoist-infested States.
Every year the MHA is sending bills for payment of the dues for deployment of CPMFs and the amount is rising every year. By December 2013, the demand was for Rs1,096 crore, which has gone up to Rs1,350 crore in December 2014 as the State Government is not paying the charges.
The State Government has been maintaining that as the Maoist menace is the biggest threat to the country’s internal security, the State should not be asked to bear the expenditure for deployment of CMPFs to handle the problem.
There are 17 battalions of CMPFs deployed in 18 districts of Odisha and the State Government is asking for two more battalions as there is hardly any Central force stationed in the border areas of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh is now having 45 CRPF battalions and would be getting 11 more, said sources.
The Odisha Government is, therefore, urging the Centre to make equitable distribution of Central forces, funds, logistic support, assets, etc, among the States fighting the menace to prevent movement of the leftwing terrorists from one State to another.
While there is a heavy deployment of Central Forces in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, in Odisha no similar deployment. Uneven distribution of Central forces would only lead to displacement of the Maoist problem from one State to another instead of completely eradicating it, pointed out a senior official here.
As the State Government is facing an acute shortage of IPS officers to handle the Maoist menace, it has approached the Centre to depute at least six CRPF officers to discharge duties as Additional Superintendents of Police in the Maoist-affected districts.
On the logistic front, Chhattisgarh enjoys the advantage over Odisha for possessing dedicated choppers. Even as the Odisha police has hired one MI-172 helicopter to respond to any exigency, service of the chopper is not always available for operational purpose due to prolonged work disruption at the Pawan Hans Helicopter limited.
“The MHA should deploy two dedicated military choppers in Bhubaneswar and Koraput to act as a force multiplier and for emergency evacuation as well,” said the official.