New Delhi /Bhubaneswar: The state government today urged the centre for provision of two more battalions of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to tackle the Maoist menace, informed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after attending the Anti-naxal meeting held in New Delhi today.
Briefing mediapersons, Patnaik said, “I urged upon the Home Minister to provide two more battalions of CAPF to Odisha immediately to undertake effective counter measures against extremism in Chhattisgarh, Andhra and Odisha with proper synergy.”
He said the government also demanded inclusion of three more districts- Angul, Boudh and Sonepur in the list of Mao infested districts and Kalahandi in the category of worst affected districts’ list.
“I also urged the Home Minister to include the newly-affected districts of central parts of Odisha under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme and installation of 518 mobile towers in the Naxal-hit districts,” the CM stated.
“Anti-Maoist operations should be intensified in the state. We discussed on various security issues like installation of mobile towers, road connectivity and acceleration of unfinished projects in Mao infested areas,” he added.
The CM further informed that additional fund has been demanded for rail connectivity from Jeypore to Malkangiri and Nabrangpur and Rs 142 crore for Gurupriya bridge.
The anti-Maoist strategy meeting of eight affected states was called by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.