Home ministry comes up with blueprint to tackle the Maoist menace
The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to not only strengthen the central police forces fighting the Maoists, but there are also plans to give more teeth to the special forces of state police's that are combating left-wing extremism.
In the aftermath of the brutal killings by the Maoists in the jungles of Latehar in Jharkhand, the government has decided to step up the offensive against the rebels in the red corridor.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to not only strengthen the central police forces fighting theMaoists, but there are also plans to give more teeth to the special forces of state police's that are combating leftwing extremism.
A blue print to effectively take on the red rebels has been prepared by the MHA. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is planning a fresh onslaught on Maoists soon. The force is expected to strengthen is deployment in the left-wing extremist areas.
Sources say close to 10,000 additional CRPF personnel will soon be deployed to take on the Maoists. Currently, there are 65,000 CRPF men deployed in the Maoists areas.
"This has been in the pipelines for some time. But now, we have decided to scale up the offensive against the Maoists. An increase in force is one of the priorities," said a senior CRPF officer.
Other than CRPF, which is the main force fighting Maoists, other agencies such as the Border Security Force(BSF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) that are also present in some areas might see an increase in their numbers too.
The home ministry has also planned to upgrade the special forces of the states.
According to a home ministry note on funding of these forces, the ministry has approved a scheme to fund infrastructure, weaponry to fill the critical gaps in functioning of special forces in states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
"The special forces have been proposed to be set up in states on the lines of Greyhounds in Andhra Pradesh, which have been a very successful anti-Naxal operation force," said a home ministry official. It is also suggested that there should be special training centres for such a force.
It has been proposed that 80 per cent funds for the scheme on special task force in states will be given by the centre. "Total proposed outlay during the 12th plan for this purpose is Rs 280 crore by central government and Rs 56 crore by the state government," the MHA note stated.