NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of the Sukma attack, the deadliest in the last seven years, the Centre and state governments will be getting into a huddle on Monday to bolster its strategy to counter the Left Wing Extremism (LWE).
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be meeting Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal in the national capital. The meeting comes two weeks after over 300 naxals killed 25 paramilitary personnel in an ambush in Chhatisgarh. Around 90 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were part of the road opening party when they were attacked by the Naxals.
The Union Ministers in charge of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Railways, Civil Aviation, Minister of Rural Development, Power, New & Renewable Energy and Telecom will also attend the meet. The meeting will also be attended by the Secretaries of the Central Ministries, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of the LWE affected states.
“A holistic review of the situation will be undertaken covering a wide canvas of security and development issues, particularly infrastructure building. The meeting will focus on devising new strategies to maintain the momentum achieved in 2016, notwithstanding a couple of incidents. Development issues will also be discussed with a view to ensure rapid development of LWE affected areas,” a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The attack had pointed towards lacunae in intelligence gathering and sharing, training and motivation among the ranks and files of the CRPF. The day-long meeting will include two sessions to discuss upon operational issues like role of States in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) Operations, raising and employment of India Reserve (IR) Battalions and Special India Reserve Battalion (SIRB), etc, capacity building and Intelligence issues like vacancies in State Police Forces, capacity building of State Intelligence Units, etc and other Ministry-wise related matters.