Fighting Naxals primary job of states: Chidambaram

After the government came under opposition attack on the handling of Naxal violence, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the state governments have the primary responsibility to fight the Maoist menace and the Centre was ready to assist them.

Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the Dantewada massacre in which 76 security personnel were killed, Chidambaram said, "the state governments have the primary responsibility" to regain control of areas dominated by the Naxals.

The Central government, he said, was ready and willing to assist the state governments and to coordinate inter-state operations.

"To counter the menace of Naxalism, we need a strong head, a stronger heart and enormous staying power. I believe that the government has all three qualities," he said.

 

As the security forces were deployed in areas populated by scheduled tribes, they were facing hindrances, the minister said.

"Because the security forces are deployed in areas populated by scheduled tribes, a number of restrictions have been placed on the operations of the central paramilitary forces," Chidamabaram said giving details of the Dantewada incident of April six.

Earlier, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed frequent adjournments over the issue as the opposition wanted an immediate discussion and alleged that the government had taken the incident in a casual manner.