Union Home Minister Assures Revival of IAP for Maoist Hit Districts

He also demanded early release of assistance for cyclone Phailin which struck Odisha in December, 2013 and this year's drought.

BHUBANESWAR: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today assured that two central schemes, the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Maoist affected districts and Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF), are likely to be revived.

Singh, who reviewed the security situation in Odisha at a high level meeting at the state secretariat here, said there has been a progressive improvement in the situation particularly in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Front.

"We have assured the state government maximum central assistance to achieve success in the LWE Front," Singh said after the meeting which was attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and senior officials. There has been a perceptible change in the situation and four Maoists were killed in Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh during the last two days, he said.

The home minister, however, said that there is no place for violence in a healthy democracy. "I appeal to the LWE cadres to shun violence completely and join the nation's mainstream," Singh said and added that the Centre is ready for talks with them if they do so. "They should also contribute to make India vibrant and self-dependent," he said.

Referring to the issue of delay in release of drought assistance raised in the meeting by the Chief Minister, Singh said he has discussed the issue with the union home secretary and the amount of assistance finalised at the high level meeting at New Delhi would be provided in the supplementary budget.

Stating that the number of people from Odisha in Maoist cadre has gone down because of the proactive steps taken by the state government, the chief minister demanded deployment of two more battalions of central para-military forces on the Odisha-Chhatisgarh border.

The chief minister said the districts in Odisha falling under the Mao corridor from Jharkhand to Chhatisgarh-Andhra Pradesh should be announced as naxalite affected areas by the Centre. Other issues raised by the Odisha government included more funds for completion of Gurupriya bridge in Malkangiri district to improve communication facilities in Malkangiri district, completion of Sileru bridge in Andhra Pradesh and improvement in telephone and bank services in Maoist affected areas.

He also demanded early release of assistance for cyclone Phailin which struck Odisha in December, 2013 and this year's drought.

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