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New Delhi: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged the Centre to provide telecommunication, banking services to Naxal-hit districts and also stressed on the establishment of rail connectivity specifically to Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts of the State.
Patnaik gave his proposals at a review meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on ongoing operations against Naxals and development initiatives being undertaken in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik assured the Centre that the State government will provide free land and also bear half of the cost for the railway projects in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts.
“During the meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah I made three major demands. Firstly, I demanded that districts of Malkangiri and Nabarangpur get railway connectivity. The State government is willing to provide land for free and also pay half the cost. Also, I demanded for banking facilities and telecommunication in naxal-affected blocks. I hope that they (the Centre) will comply with them,” the Chief Minister said.
Among others, Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, besides top police and civil officials of the Naxal affected states, senior officials of paramilitary forces and the home ministry also attended the meeting.
According to Home Ministry statistics, 8,782 cases of Naxal violence were reported during 2009-13 as against 4,969 during 2014-18, a reduction of 43.4 per cent.
The Centre has approved the National Policy and Action Plan in 2015 to address LWE threat. As part of the multi-pronged strategy, the Centre is ensuring security-related measures, development interventions, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities in naxal-affected areas.
