Shinde to review security situation in naxal-hit areas of Jharkhand

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will review progress in the security situation and development initiatives in the Naxal-affected districts of the Jharkhand today.

Shinde's Jharkhand visit comes against the backdrop of the ministry's decision to deploy additional 10 battalions of paramilitary forces in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar.

According to reports, Shinde and senior home ministry officers are scheduled to hold meetings with the state Governor Syed Ahmed, his two advisors-K Vijay Kumar and Madhukar Gupta, besides senior civil and police officers.

The meeting will also take stock of various centrally-sponsored development schemes being presently run in Jharkhand.

In Jharkhand, Maoists have destroyed a large number of schools, roads, bridges, health centres, telephone towers and government buildings in the last few years.

Besides Jharkhand, Maoists have significantly increased their presence in tribal and rural regions of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.

The Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of millions of landless labourers and marginal farmers. However, the government has termed them to be the main internal security threat and an obstacle to growth in Asia's third-largest economy.