New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who on Sunday chaired a review meeting with the chief ministers of Naxal-affected states, urged them to give priority to the problem of left wing extremism for the next one year so that a permanent solution can be found in this problem.
The Union Home Minister said that it requires building pressure, increasing speed and better coordination.
“It is very important to neutralize the sources of income of the left wing extremists. The agencies of the Central and State Governments should try to stop this by making a system together,” he added.
Shah said the Government of India is committed to the development of left wing extremism affected states under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Asserting it is a matter of happiness to share that Prime Minister Modi’s leadership there has been a lot of success due to the joint efforts of the Centre and the states in cracking down on left wing extremism, he said that while the incidents of left wing extremism have come down by 23 percent, the number of deaths has come down by 21 percent.
The Union Home Minister said that in decades of fighting, we have reached a point where the death toll is less than 200 for the first time and this is a huge achievement for all of us.
“We all know that unless we get rid of the problem of left wing extremism completely, the full development of the country and the states affected by it is not possible,” he added.
Shah said that without eliminating it, neither we will be able to spread democracy to the bottom nor will we be able to develop the underdeveloped areas.
“So, instead of being satisfied with what we have achieved so far, we need to increase speed to get what is left,” he added.
Shah said that the Government of India has been fighting a battle on two fronts for many years without paying attention to the political parties.
“Those who want to give up arms and join mainstream are heartily welcome, but those who take up arms and hurt innocent people and the police, will be given the same response,” he added.
Shah said the root cause of dissatisfaction is that development has not reached there in last six decades since Independence and now to deal with it, it is very essential to ensure accessibility to fast-paced development so that common and innocent people do not join them.
The Home Minister said the development is continuing Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, adding now the Naxalites have also understood that innocent people will not be misled by them, which is why it is very important to continue uninterrupted development.
Shah urged the states that the Chief Secretaries of the affected states should hold a review meeting with the DGPs and officers of central agencies at least every three months to deal with left wing extremism, adding then only we can take this fight forward.
He said that a huge and successful effort has been made in the last two years to increase security camps in areas where security was not stringent, especially in Chhattisgarh, as well as in Maharashtra and Odisha.
“If regular review is done at the level of Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and DGP, then the problems of coordination at the lower level will automatically get resolved,” he added.
Shah further said that the fight against the problem, which has claimed the lives of more than 16,000 civilians in the last 40 years, has now reached its end and it needs to be accelerated and made decisive.
Shah said that the Government of India has recently been successful in getting many extremist groups surrender and lay down arms, especially in the North East.
“So far, about 16,000 cadres have joined the mainstream of the society, including the Bodoland Pact, the Bru Pact, the Karbi Anglong Pact and the surrender by the insurgent cadres of Tripura,” said Shah.
“We welcome all those who want to leave the violence and join the mainstream,” he added.
Asserting that the state administration should be proactive and move ahead in coordination with the central forces, Shah said that efforts have been made to fulfill demands of the states regarding the deployment of central forces.
The Home Minister said Prime Minister Modi has taken an important decision to bring down the fixed expenditure of the states on deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
“As a result of this, there has been a reduction in the expenditure of the states on the deployment of CAPFs by about Rs 2900 crore in 2019-20 as compared to the year 2018-19. The Prime Minister has continuously reviewed it and is constantly guiding us all,” he added.
The chief ministers of Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand besides the Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh and senior officials from Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Kerala attended the meeting.
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The meeting was also attended by Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh, Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda, Minister of Communications, IT and Railways Ashwini Vaishnav, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways General (Retd.) VK Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla was also present in the meeting along with top officials of Central Armed Police Forces and many senior officers of central and state governments.