Centre to tackle Naxals, speed up development in LWE affected areas

After taking stringent actions to deal with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, it seems like the central government is shifting focus to combat Naxals and speed up development in the areas affected by left-wing extremism (LWE).

A high-level meeting, chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, was held in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur to review left-wing extremism and related issue in the region.

According to a senior officer who also attended the meeting, a new strategy has been discussed which will simultaneously focus on operations and development in red zones.

The meeting was also attended by Director of the Intelligence Bureau Arvind Kumar, Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) RR Bhatnagar and other top officers of Chhattisgarh including Chief Secretary and Police chief of Chhattisgarh, officers from Odisha and Telangana.

Jagdalpur is close to the most Naxal-affected regions of Sukma and Dantewada.

This comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on August 26, held a meeting with the chief ministers of all the states affected by the 10 red zones.

After the meeting, Shah had said that left-wing extremism is against the idea of democracy and that the central government is committed to uprooting it.

"Had a very fruitful meeting with the CMs of the LWE affected states. Discussed several issues related to the security and development of these states. Left-Wing Extremism is against the idea of democracy, and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi we are committed to uprooting it," he had tweeted.

Home secretary Bhalla also took stock of development issues in the red zone and asked the forces to work as per the government's plan.

"Centre is keen on speeding up development, and road construction in the Naxal affected area. Forces have been asked to operate in a manner that can also boost development in these affected," a senior officer who attended the meeting said, on the condition of anonymity.

Sources have also confirmed that seven more battalions of the CRPF will also be sent to the red zone to deal with Naxals. Sources claimed that as per the proposal, majorly these battalions will be deployed in Sukma district as it is the most Naxals affected area followed by Dantewada.