Waive deployment charge of central forces to contain naxals :

Naxals are the most critical internal security challenge, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Monday and demanded the waiver of deployment charge of central forces in the LWE affected areas and demanded the release of funds under SRE.

Speaking at the review meeting on ongoing operations against Naxals in left wing extremist affected areas under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, he also demanded better roads, rail, banking and tele- communication facilities in the LWE-hit areas.

Besides Patnaik, Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh), Raghubar Das (Jharkhand),Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and top police and civil officials of ten naxal-affected states attended the meeting.

"... Waive the deployment charge of central armed police forces as ensuring the internal security is a constitutional obligation of the Union Government," Patnaik said at the meeting.

A transcript of his speech was released to the media in Bhubaneswar.

Stating that the naxal issue is the "most critical internal security challenge for the entire nation", Patnaik said "It needs to be effectively countered by both the Centre and the state governments."