Kamal Nath seeks 4G connectivity in Maoist-affected districts

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Monday urged the Central government to provide at least 4G connectivity in the Maoist-affected Balaghat and Mandla and also clear proposals for road projects and residential schools in the two districts.

Speaking at a review meeting of Chief Ministers of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states here, he said the state had created 'HAWK force' in 2000 and launched development programmes.

He said steps taken by the state government have resulted in limiting Maoism only to Balaghat and Mandla districts which border Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

A Madhya Pradesh government release said that the Chief Minister laid stress on coupling technologies with human intelligence and noted that a special Intelligence branch has been created to deal with Maoist-affected areas.

"He pointed out that poor connectivity was the main issue which hampers collection and sharing of information and requested the Government of India to make provisions for at least 4G connectivity in the Balaghat and Mandla districts of the state," the release said.

Noting that communication network in Maoist-affected areas was heavily dependent on police wireless due to poor telephone and mobile network coverage, he said 50 per cent of tribal blocks have only 2G connectivity.

He requested for sanctioning Rs 33.74 crores under PMGY for constructing two roads and a bridge in Balaghat and two roads and three bridges in Mandla districts.

He also requested for early sanction of funds for setting up Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) in one block of Balaghat and four of Mandla.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that apart from coordination with other states, the emphasis has been laid on the modernisation of police force and they have been equipped with modern gadgets such as trackers, GPS, drones, trap cameras, body protective armours and jungle terrain vehicles.

Referring to the need of financial Inclusion of citizens, he said there are 6.6 bank branches per lakh of population in Balaghat and Mandla against the state average of 10.58.

The state government, he said, has launched a financial literacy campaign on World Tribal Day this year.

Kamal Nath said the government was committed to protecting right of tribals and out of 6.26 lakh patta claim applications received, rights have been given in 2.66 lakh cases.

He said instructions have been given to review all the 3.6 lakh applications which were rejected largely due to incomplete documentation and a portal has been started for comprehensive, transparent and speedy disposal of the rejected claims.