Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has revealed that all successive governments in the State, irrespective of the party they belonged to, were firm on tackling left-wing extremism.
“The most significant element in our strategy has been to evolve a consensus among all political parties on the strategy to be adopted to tackle left-wing extremism, irrespective of whoever is in power. This consistent approach adopted by all governments over a period of time has yielded good results in our fight against left-wing extremism,” the Chief Minister explained at the chief ministers’ conference on internal security chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday.
He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh had been facing the Naxal problem for more than 40 years. Given the guerilla tactics and revolutionary nature of left-wing extremism, he said, the State had evolved a comprehensive strategy incorporating native solutions to counter the challenges.
Kiran Reddy said serious efforts by CPI (Maoist) to revive the movement in the State had proved futile. This was because of the proactive measures undertaken by the State government, he added.
“Though the problem is under control, we are aware that it can stage a comeback in case of any let up in the preparedness of security forces. The possibility of Armed Action Teams striking at individual targets cannot be ruled out. We are taking appropriate steps to keep up the morale and fighting spirit of the security forces,” Kiran Reddy said.
NEW ACT: Kiran Reddy said the State government had planned to install about 5,000 CCTVs in vulnerable public places throughout Hyderabad as part of the Safe City Project for which the State sought the financial assistance from the Centre. In addition, the State Government has also proposed to enact the AP Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2013 for improving security at vulnerable public places, he explained.
The proposed Act envisages minimum standard of security measures in terms of access controls and surveillance cameras at the entry and exit points of important and vulnerable places of public gatherings like shopping malls, theatres, busy eateries, industrial establishments, educational institutions, religious places etc, the Chief Minister said.
NET PROBLEM: The Chief Minister also said security agencies were facing serious problems in monitoring online communication, importantly Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Nimbus, Skype and other VoIP channels, because of non-cooperation from tech companies, headquartered abroad. Terrorists are taking advantage of this situation and using these communication channels for their anti-national activities, he pointed out.
The Chief Minister also wanted the Centre to provide funds to the proposed Emergency Response Management System in which the State proposed patrol cars with well-trained personnel to help the public in emergencies.
The Chief Minister said that the State had recently sanctioned `50 crore to take up construction of front offices at all police stations with furniture. This initiative would help in laying a road map for transforming police stations into citizen-friendly service centres, he added.
The Chief Minister sought Centre’s help to beef up security at inter-state boarders, as extremists were committing offences at the borders.
He also sought the Prime Minister’s nod for releasing the budget for implementation of the Hyderabad City Surveillance Project to tackle terrorist activities.
He requested that the expenditure on counter-terrorism measures may be brought under SRE funds, like in the case of left-wing extremism.