Amit Shah asks states to strengthen local forces to fight against Maoist terror

Amit Shah conducted a review of the security situation in the areas affected by Maoist violence and the development work carried out by various governments.

Amit Shah, Amit Shah meeting on Maoists, Amit Shah meeting on naxal violence, left-wing extremism area

Home Minister Amit Shah with Chief Ministers Kamal Nath and Nitish Kumar at a review meet on Left Wing Extremism , at Vigyan Bhavan on Monday. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asked states affected by Maoist violence to strengthen their forces, as local forces alone could win the battle against Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). Extending Centre’s full support to eliminate the extremism, Shah asked states to use Central funds to modernise and train the state forces.

Holding a meeting with chief ministers of LWE-affected states, Shah conducted a review of the security situation in the areas affected by Maoist violence and the development work carried out by various governments.

Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh), Raghubar Das (Jharkhand) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) attended the meeting, apart from several Union Cabinet ministers such as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar. Top civil officials of 10 LWE-affected states also attended the meeting.

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After the meeting, Shah tweeted, “Had a very fruitful meeting with the CM’s of the LWE affected states. Discussed several issues related to the security & development of these states. Left Wing Extremism is against the idea of democracy and under the leadership of PM @narendramodi we are committed to uproot it.”

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Shah emphasised on the capacity building of local forces, as only strong local forces can effectively neutralize LWE organisations from their areas. “In this regard, Shri Shah said that LWE cannot be eradicated without the vigilance and efficiency of the local police in the militancy affected states. He asked the states to use Central schemes and their own budget for police modernisation,” an MHA statement said.

Shah also focused on the need to check the flow of funds to LWE organisations, and praised the states for the steps taken by them in this regard.

“Shri Shah said innovative measures need to be employed to prevent IED (Improvised Explosive Device) incidents that have caused significant number of casualties in recent years,” an MHA statement said.

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Expressing their concerns at the meet, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that fighting Maoism was a concern of both Centre and states, and therefore Centre should not put the financial burden of security force deployment on states. Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das urged that although violence had gone down, presence of CAPFs in the Valley should not be scaled down in view of upcoming elections. MP CM Kamal Nath asked the Centre to provide 4G mobile connectivity in two LWE-affected districts in the state while Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel requested Shah to increase the Centre’s contribution under the Road Requirement Plan-Phase II to 100 per cent. —(With inputs from ENS Bhopal, Raipur)

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