New Delhi/Bhubaneswar, October 06: A National level meeting on left wing extremism under the Chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah was held today in New Delhi. State Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha participated in this meeting on behalf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Arukha in his speech expressed that Left Wing Extremism is a grave internal security challenge to the nation. Under the strong leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Odisha has achieved significant success in combating Left Wing Extremism menace.
Well calibrated security response backed by focused developmental interventions and people-centric policies of the government have brought about remarkable transformation in the situation in most of the affected areas.
The areas of influence of CPI (Maoist) have shrunk from a high of twenty-one districts to limited pockets of ten districts, intensity of violence has declined and mass support base and recruitment of local cadres to the outfit have dwindled. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the areas, which have been cleared up of extremism, have witnessed significant transformation due to pro-active developmental initiatives and people centric policies.
Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district, which was a bastion of Maoists for decades, has been brought under complete control and dominance of security forces. The area has integrated with the socio-economic-political mainstream by remarkable progress in every sphere of development. The construction of Gurupriya Bridge and implementation of ‘SETU’ (Social Economic Transformation and Upliftment) Scheme has worked wonder in bringing visible transformation in the life and livelihood of the people living in this area.
More than 7,000 smart phones have been distributed to the students of the area to facilitate study. For better health care, ambulance fleet and para medics have been expanded and boat ambulance and water ambulance have been introduced.
In some pockets in Kandhamal district, medicines are being distributed through drone. Under Mukhyamantri Bayu Yojana, super specialists are deputed to different areas for providing improved health care to the people. Also, initiatives for skill development and women empowerment have paid rich dividends. Women are provided with soft loans to set up enterprises. These steps have significantly weakened the support towards CPI (Maoist) outfit.
Odisha is thankful to the Government of India for the support in combating the menace in an effective manner. However, there are few issues, which need urgent attention of the Govt. of India namely: Installation of mobile towers under different Mobile Connectivity Schemes may be fast-tracked and completed early. A dedicated helicopter may please be provided to the State as Uninterrupted Helicopter service is a critical requirement for the security forces for movement of troops, maintenance of forward posts and to respond to exigencies in the context of LWE conflict.
The State of Odisha reiterates its stand to pursue the strategy of pro-active security response and holistic development of tribal areas to address this problem in a meaningful manner. The State Govt. will continue to work in close co-ordination with the Central Agencies and neighbouring States to eliminate this menace, Sri Arukha expressed.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and DG, Police Sunil Kumar Bansal also attended this meeting. Amit Shah, Union Home Minister expressed satisfaction over the measures taken by Odisha Government to curb Naxal menace. He assured that all assistance will be provided to the State and all-out efforts will be undertaken by the Govt. to root out left wing extremism from the country in the coming year.
