Chhattisgarh, despite being the core area for Maoist activity, recorded a decrease of 15% in incidents of violence during 2016-17, the annual report of the Union Home Ministry has informed.
The improvement in lWE scenario can be attributed to greater presence and increased capacity of the Security Forces across the lWE affected States, better operational strategy and better monitoring of development schemes in affected areas, it informed.
Revival efforts by Maoists in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border areas, establishment of a base at the tri-junction of Kerala-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu and formation of a new Zone at the tri-junction of Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh did not meet the desired success due to periodic interdictions of senior leaders by the security forces. While extortion/ levy activities by the Maoists continued, the demonetisation drive by the Government of India delivered a major dent to their finances, the report informed.
The area of operations of CPI (Maoist) cadres is not confined to a single state and spreads over several States. Therefore, better Inter-State coordination at various levels and on a number of aspects are essential. The Government of India has taken a number of steps to improve InterState coordination through periodic Inter-State meetings and also facilitating interactions between the bordering districts of lWE affected States. The Joint Command and Control Centre at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh also facilitates coordination on operational and intelligence issues, the report informed.
On the other hand, notably, the insurgency infested Dantewada, Sukma and Bastar districts of Chhattisgarh have a total of 180 mobile towers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam limited (BSNl) are operating in these three districts.
Besides Naxal activities, difficult geographical conditions and hilly terrain make it difficult to provide network coverage in these lWE areas, the Central Government has informed.
In addition, mobile towers are being set up at 14 sites under lWE Project funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
In Chhattisgarh State, 16 out of 27 districts are Naxal affected. A total of 961 mobile towers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam limited (BSNl) are working in these left Wing Extremism (lWE) districts of Chhattisgarh State. In Jharkhand State, 21 out of 24 districts are naxal affected. There are 782 number of mobile towers of BSNl working in lWE areas of Jharkhand. These towers are insufficient to provide coverage in naxal affected areas, particularly because of hilly terrain and dense forest.
Notably, with a view to providing a major boost to expansion of telecommunications services in Chhattisgarh, the BSNl is going to install 2,000 new mobile towers in the State during the next two years, Union Minister for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad had announced during his visit to Raipur in June last year.
Notably, via video conferencing, Prasad earlier had dedicated the 146 new mobile towers erected in insurgency-infested Bastar region and infrastructure for providing internet services developed in Panchayats at Balrampur-Ramanujgunj district through NFON.
“BSNl will set up 2,000 new mobile towers during the next two years in Chhattisgarh which will be a historical step to strengthen mobile connectivity in the State,” the Union Minister had informed in a Press conference here after chairing a meeting with the officials at Chief Minister Raman Singh’s official residence.
“The Chief Minister had urged the Centre to install 1,600 mobiles towers in the State to improve telecom connectivity. I have spoken to BSNl officials and they have agreed to install as many as 2,000 towers,” he added.
In an effort to boost ‘digital drive’, 220 new Wi-Fi hot spots will be set up in the State mainly at tourist places, Prasad said. “The State presently has 27 Wi-Fi hot spots. During the next one-and-half years, this facility will be extended to 220 more places. I have asked to cover prominent tourist places of the State including temples and waterfalls under the facility,” he said.
I had said earlier that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was known for bringing four-lane, six-lane national highways and Narendra Modi Government will be known for bringing information highway, he added.
Chhattisgarh is among other insurgency infested states where highest 38 CRPF troopers were martyred in 15 incidents of Maoist attacks during the past six months as on June, 30, 2017, the Central Government has informed.
During the period, incidents of Maoists attacks in other insurgency infested States are as follows — Andhra Pradesh (1), Bihar (3), Jharkhand (4), Maharashtra (8) and Odisha (1).
The Central Government has a comprehensive National Policy and a multi-pronged action plan to deal with left Wing Extremism comprising of security related measures, developmental interventions and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities etc, it informed.
Notably, on the other hand, the final list of tribals selected from Sukma district for the newly raised Bastar Battalion raised by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for counter-insurgency operations had been released, an official statement issued in March this year had informed.
It may be recalled that the recruitment process for all districts of insurgency infested Bastar region had been held earlier.
The newly being raised ‘Bastar Battalion’ by CRPF will have one-third women representation, officials informed.
Notably, the Bastar Battalion of CRPF is being raised by recruiting 744 Scheduled Tribe (ST) youths from four insurgency infested districts of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, the Central Government has informed.
The districts from where the tribal youths would be recruited for the new Battalion are — Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma.
The decision to set up a Tribal Battalion has been taken with a view to give more employment to the tribal youth keeping in mind their unique characteristics.
Earlier, the Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also approved raising of four 'India Reserve Battalions' (IR Bns) for Chhattisgarh State to be deployed in lWE pockets of the State.
The Union Cabinet had announced to raise a total of 17 India Reserve Battalions (IR Bns) for Jammu & Kashmir and left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected States, officials stated.
It includes five IR Bns in the State of J&K, three IR Bns in Jharkhand, three IR Bns in Odisha and two IR Bns in Maharashtra including four for Chhattisgarh.
Notably, Chhattisgarh stands fourth in the country in terms of the number of districts affected by left Wing Extremism (lWE).
A total of 106 districts in the country are considered as left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected. Of these, Bihar State has maximum 22 districts, followed by Jharkhand (21), Odisha(19), Chhattisgarh (16), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,- both 8 each, West Bengal and Maharashtra,- both 4 each, Uttar Pradesh,- 3 and Madhya Pradesh, one, the Central Government had informed last year.
Apart from the above, it is worth mentioning that the numbers of incidents of lWE violence and resultant deaths have although significantly declined during the last four years from 2011 to 2014, officials stated.
Maoist activities decreased in all the states except Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh with number of incidents rising to 42 per cent, observes the annual report of the Union Ministry of Home for 2015-16.
The report mentioned that the rise in incidents had been due to conduct of Panchayat polls in January-February month in 2015-16 in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region.
It further mentioned that the Dandakarnya region in South Chhattisgarh had been the nucleus of Maoist activities.
The Central Government in June last year decided to also upgrade the Government multi-specialty hospital at Jagdalpur in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.
A decision to this effect was taken in a review meeting of the progress of work in left Wing Insurgency (lWE) states chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi recently, officials informed.
Other issues such as installation of mobile towers in grey areas, increasing the reach of networks of DD and AIR, improvement in programmes, expansion of railway lines, banking & postal services were also discussed in detail.
The officials of concerned Union Ministries and Chief Secretaries of the seven lWE-affected states participated in the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated that progress in development works has picked up during the last two years, and extended his congratulations to the States and the concerned Central Ministries.
He stressed upon the need to build upon this progress further and finish the projects in hand at an even quicker pace, so that the people living in these areas are benefitted and get access to services and facilities at par with other parts of the country.
The Home Minister also noted that deaths due to lWE incidents had declined by 42% in the year 2015 as compared to the year 2013.
Progress of different projects was thereafter reviewed and discussed with the Secretaries of the Central Ministries of Railways, Road Transport and Highways, Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Post, Information & Broadcasting, Communication & IT, Finance, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.
While taking it as a challenge, the Chhattisgarh Government has completed construction of 1,052 kms of roads in insurgency infested pockets of the State with co-operation of the Central Government, State PWD Minister Rajesh Munat said in March last year.
In an official statement issued here, Munat said that the police provided adequate security cover to road development projects in the red zones.
Chhattisgarh is among two other states mainly Maharashtra and Telangana which have assured to electrify all villages including left Wing Extremism (lWE) areas by March 2018, the Central Government has informed.
Notably, the three States — Maharashtra, Telangana and Chhattisgarh — have also assured to electrify all villages excluding lWE areas by March 2017, it informed.
The Chhattisgarh Government has targetted to spend Rs 5,036 crore for augmenting rural electrification and energy distribution system, officials here informed.
Notably, the power supply distribution augmentation system project would be funded by Central government grant, equity contribution from State and loan from financial institutions.
The State-owned Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company ltd (CSPDCl) which is implementing the project has sought additional funding support from the Central Government for achieving 100 per centelectrification of villages in Bastar region by FY 2018.
The special scheme would require additional finding support of Rs 665 crores of additional investment from the work carried out under Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana , officials informed.
Notably, Chief Minister Raman Singh had recently reviewed works of Energy Department and issued directives to complete construction of 34 key power sub-stations in various districts of state including tribal stronghold Bastar and Surguja divisions within 18 months.
The construction cost of these 34 power sub-stations is estimated to be Rs 2,100 crore.
Chief Minister said in the meeting that keeping in view the demands and requests for electricity supply received from villagers during state-wide lok Suraaj Abhiyan, these power substations should be constructed within the time-limit on priority basis, so that quality electricity supply could be ensured in far-off rural regions.
In the meeting officials informed that two power substation of 400/220KV will be constructed in Jagdalpur and Dhamtari, eight power substations of 220/132 KV will be constructed in Rajim, Borjhara (Gariaband), Parsada, Kawardha, Dharsiva, Narayanpur, Jagdalpur and Bilaspur. likewise, 24 power substations of 132/33 KV will be constructed in Koni, Ravanbhata, Batauli, Kondatarai, Sukma, Charama, lormi, Dabra, Bakhara, Vandanapuling, Shivrinarayan, Wadrafnagar, Kansabel, Bijapur, Pakhanjur, Nagri, Indagaon, Mohla, Rajpur, Dornapal, Takhatpur, Basna, Berla, and Renki (Korba).
In the meeting, it was informed that the electrification of villages not covered under 2685 hamlets being electrified under Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana at the cost of nearly Rs 1250 crore and the villages being electrified using solar energy, is in progress.
It was also informed in the meeting that till March 2015, the State had 1080 villages without electricity, out of which 402 villagers wereelectrified in year 2015-16. In year 2016-17, target of electrification of 678 villages has been set. Against which, electrification of 80 villages has been done and that of remaining is in progress.
The Government has also targetted to electrify all the 19,000 villages in the State with solar power during the next two years.