Chhattisgarh is among the seven worst left Wing Extremism (lWE) States which have been allocated Rs228.56 crore as Additional Central Assistance (ACA) by Union Ministry of Home Affairs, officials stated.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had approved the State-wise allocation of Additional Central Assistance of Rs1000 crores to 35 worst lWE affected districts in seven States.
Out of these 35 districts, there are 16 lWE affected districts in Jharkhand, 8 in Chhattisgarh, 6 in Bihar, 2 in Odisha and one each in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has allocated fund Rs28.57 crores per district. Thus, Jharkhand is allocated Rs457.12 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs228.56 crore, Bihar Rs171.42 crore, Odisha Rs57.14 crore and Rs28.57 crore each to the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In an attempt to boost-up developmental works in insurgency-hit districts, the Chhattisgarh Government has decided to fix three percent amount of cost of construction works funded by the Centre as ‘protection component’.
An order in this regard has been issued from Mantralaya recently.
This would be applicable at the outset for three insurgency-hit districts of Sukma, Bijapur and Dantewada in Bastar region.
A circular in this regard has been issued to Chairman of Revenue Board, all departments of the State Government, head of the departments and district collectors, officials stated.
As per the circular, three percent amount of the project cost will be included as ‘protection component’ in proposal (estimated) of bigger projects to be sent to the Centre for the aforesaid three districts.
It may be recalled that Chhattisgarh is among five insurgency infested states which have been working feverishly towards meeting all the project deadlines prescribed by the Centre for left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected districts.
The Centre has asked lWE affected states for adhering to the time-lines for appropriate utilization of budget available with them for developing infrastructure in the left Wing Extremism (lWE) districts.
A meeting was held in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under the chairmanship of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary to review left Wing Extremism (lWE) in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar in New Delhi recently.
During the meeting, apart from operational issues certain developmental issues such as roads, mobile towers and infrastructure in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) centres were reviewed.
Chaudhary had asked the Directors General of CAPFs to adhere to the time-lines for appropriate utilization of budget available with them. The issues of coordination between the State Police and CAPFs were also discussed and better and enhanced cooperation on the ground was emphasized.
The meeting was attended by Rajiv Mehrishi, Union Home Secretary, DGs of CAPFs, DGs of State Police and Principal Secretaries (Home) from the concerned States and Senior Officers of the MHA.
It may also be recalled that the Central government announced in the month of March this year that it has approved a revised cost of Rs3045 crore under its Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh.
Overall, the Centre has approved a Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of a total of 34 Districts in 8 States covering 5477 km length (1126 km NHs & 4351 km State Roads).
In Chhattisgarh, the fund had been approved for improvement of road connectivity in lWE affected areas measuring 2019 kms .
As per details of Physical Progress achieved as on March 1, 2015 under RRP the length of road completed between 2010-11 to 2014-15 in the insurgency infested areas in Chhattisgarh upto February 28,2015 is 868 kms.
As per the State-wise details of fund allocated and expenditure incurred under lWE scheme, Chhattisgarh an expenditure of Rs190 crore was made from 2010-11 to 2014-15 upto February 28, 2015.
Notably, last year, the Central government had simplified the procedure for offering general approval under Section-2 of Central Forest Conservation Act 1980, keeping in view the need of infrastructural development for public utility.
This implied that general approval for construction of roads on forest land in a total of ten left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected districts of Chhattisgarh will now be granted easily, official informed here.
As per the simplified procedure, the general approval for construction of two-lane highways on forest land will be given by State Government itself.
In this context, Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand had issued a circular to Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of all the departments and also to the Divisional Commissioners and District Collectors.
According to the officials, simplification of clearance procedure will largely benefit the areas of 10 lWE affected districts of the State, by expediting construction of roads in Chhattisgarh and connecting it to mainstream development.
The 10 lWE affected districts include Bastar (Jagdalpur), Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker, Narayanpur, Jashpur, Kabeerdham (Kawardha), Rajnandgaon, Koriya and Surguja. This simplified procedure will also be applicable in the new districts, which have been formed by reorganizing the aforementioned old districts.
Notably on August 28 last year, Managing Director of Chhattisgarh Police Housing Corporation D M Awasthi informed State Home Minister Ramsevak Paikara that the work on construction of 75 fortified police stations in the lWE areas of Chhattisgarh would be complete by December-end this year.
The Minister was reviewing the status of various projects taken up by the Police Housing Corporation.
Paikara asked the officials attending the meeting to ensure protection to the people working on various projects in the lWE areas.
Awasthi informed the Minister that a total of 25 fortified police stations had already been constructed in the lWE pockets and the work is nearly under completion in another 15 police stations.
He had informed that construction work is underway in 34 fortified police stations.
Awasthi also informed that out of the 53 police stations approved in Chhattisgarh under Police Modernisation Scheme, work had been completed in 19 police stations and work is under progress in another 31 police stations.
The tendering process for rest of the three police stations had nbeen completed and work would start for the same at the earliest, he said.