Naxal menace: Rajnath Singh says Left-wing extremism 'top agenda for intervention'

Flagging left-wing extremism (LWE) as the government's top most agenda for intervention, the Centre on Wednesday said it will commit all resources at its disposal to eradicate the menace from the country.

Addressing the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said LWE continues to be the biggest threat to the country's internal security and nation-building process.

"Thus, the LWE has remained on top of the agenda for interventions by the government," he told the meeting attended by MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including Sharad Pawar, Jyotiraditya Scindia, KC Tyagi and Mukul Roy.

The Home Minister said the security establishment is encouraged since the LWE insurgency is on the decline but this should not lull anyone into a sense of complacency.

"The government will commit all resources at its disposal to eradicate the left-wing extremism from the country," he said.

The meeting also discussed threadbare issues of corruption, atrocities on tribals and women and the status of the Constitution of National Tribal Welfare Council. Singh said the central government has adopted a four- pronged strategy with LWE-affected states to tackle the Maoist threat comprising of security-related interventions, development, securing rights and entitlements to the largely tribal-hit population and public perception management.

The Home Ministry has taken a number of steps to improve the capacity of central armed police forces CAPFs) and state police forces, including the raising of the India Reserve Battalions.

Singh mentioned that over hundred battalions of CAPFs and 10 of COBRA (Commando Battalions for Resolute Action) have been deployed for anti-LWE operations.

In a presentation on LWE to the members of the committee, details were provided about monitoring mechanism, security- related measures such as modernisation of state police forces and security related expenditure.

The MPs were also briefed about construction of 400 fortified police stations, setting up of 21 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist (CIAT) schools, recruitment in CAPFs, creation of unified commands in states and an effective media plan.