Naveen to attend anti-Maoist meeting in Delhi today to review security

New Delhi:Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik will attend a ministerial-level meeting convened by the ministry of Home Affairs today at Vigyan Bhavan here to discuss security issues in states affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

Other than Odisha, chief ministers of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have also been invited to the meeting.  Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will discuss with the CMs about the strategies to curb the menace.

While bolstering presence of security forces in Odisha to take on Maoists and more central forces have remained on top of the agenda of the State Government, the State has also decided to seek funds for security forces under the SRE scheme.

Issues such as construction of mobile towers in Maoist-dominated areas, connectivity of roads to enhance coordination with neighbouring states, deployment of two additional battalions of central force in Odisha will be raised in the meeting.

The meeting will also focus on devising new strategies and framing a blueprint, to combat the Maoist activities in the states and stress on proper coordination between the State Police and the Central para-military forces.

The CMs will also discuss the possibilities of revamping and strengthening intelligence gathering mechanism, analysis of ongoing operations and better coordination between neighbouring states

A total of 3,136 people - including civilians, security force personnel and alleged police informers - were killed in 7,781 incidents of Maoist-related violence between January 2011 and April 15, 2017.