Home Ministry to extend air support to naxal-affected states

New Delhi, Aug 30: The Union Home Ministry will provide air support to the seven states worst-affected by Naxalism, while rushing one more battalion of forces trained in jungle warfare for Chhattisgarh.

"In principle, we have decided to give air support to the most affected states primarily not for operation purposes... it is primarily for evacuation and dropping of food," Home Secretary V K Duggal told mediapersons after a meeting of the Coordination Centre of Naxalism attended by the Chief Secretaries or DGPs of 13 states affected by Maoist violence.

Asked if the air support will not be used by states for combat operation, he said it was "primarily" not for operation.

He said the Centre would, give helicopters to the states depending on availability with the Home Ministry. However, the needy states could take choppers on rent and the ministry would reimburse the expenditure.

Saying that Maoist violence had not shown any improvement in Chhattisgarh, Mr Duggal said the ministry had already provided 12 battalion of para military forces to the state. "One battalion from Mizoram will join them within a week.The personnel of the new battalion are trained in jungle warfare."

Referring to the overall Naxal situation in the country, Mr Duggal said things were looking up in all the states except for Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

n this context, he pointed out that the number of incidents and casualty had shown a declining trend in Andhra Pradesh. The number of incidents in Andhra was 119 with 24 casualties in the first seven months of this year as against 375 incidents with a casualty figure of 144, including 126 civilians, during the same period last year.

Asked if there was a possibility of naxalite elements joining the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the context of the party pulling out of the ruling UPA and withdrawing its members from the Union cabinet, he said that the issue had been ''discussed.'' We have taken stock of the ramification of the issue...we are conscious of this particular thing...we are conscious of this," he said.

He said all the worst affected states today made a detailed presentation of their action plans to tackle naxalism.

Asked about the safety of Salva Judum activists who have been staying in state-sponsored camps, Mr Duggal said there were a total of 15,000 activists staying in 18 camps. "Those in camps are taken care of well...they are properly protected," he said, hoping that they would be able to go back to their homes in the next eight to nine months.

On the allegation of Human Rights groups that the state government had created Salva Judum to create a feud among villagers, Mr Duggal said "flipside can be found in any movement." He, however, said that the Salva Judum movement is a spontaneous resistance by the local people against naxalites. "The people want to sustain the movement. They are fully motivated and charged." Replying to a question, the Home Secretary said there was no link between the naxal elements and the militant outfits working in Jammu and Kashmir.

On the basis of the consensus emerged at the meeting, it was decided to strengthen the "Naxal Desk" in the HOme Ministry by inducting an Inspector of Police (IG) and two DIGs. The officers could visit all the states and see for themselves how development schemes are implemented at the ground level and evaluate the effectiveness of the forces deployed in naxal affected areas.

It was also decided to create an inter-ministerial mechanism under a Special Secretary in the home ministry to review the developmental schemes implemented in each naxal affected states. The review would be done before all the Coordination Centre meetings.

UNI