Internal Security
Steps to Counter Maoist Threat
- 10 Dec 2020
- 4 min read
Why in News
To speed up the implementation of the Road Requirement Plan for extremism-affected areas, Chhattisgarh has suggested the Center to divide the remaining contracts into small packets so that local contractors can take up the jobs.
Key Points
- Road Requirement Plan for Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Affected Areas:
- This Scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for improving road connectivity in 34 LWE affected districts of 8 States.
- 8 States are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
- This scheme envisaged construction of 5,422 km roads lengths in LWE affected States.
- Present Issue:
- 90% of the 5422 km Road Requirement Plan stands completed, but progress remains a problem in Chhattisgarh.
- Of the 419 km of roads remaining across four states, Chhattisgarh accounts for 360 km.
- Proposed Solution:
- Chhattisgarh proposed to the Centre to break up the contracts into small portions so that local contractors can take up the jobs.
- When local people take up the contracts, they are in a better position to get the work done.
- 90% of the 5422 km Road Requirement Plan stands completed, but progress remains a problem in Chhattisgarh.
- Left Wing Extremism (LWE):
- LWE organizations are the groups that try to bring change through violent revolution. They are against democratic institutions and use violence to subvert the democratic processes at ground level.
- These groups prevent the developmental processes in the least developed regions of the country and try to misguide the people by keeping them ignorant of current happenings.
- Left Wing Extremists are popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalites in India.
- Other Government Initiatives to fight LWE:
- Greyhounds: It was raised in 1989 as an elite anti-naxal force.
- Operation Green Hunt: It was started in 2009-10 and massive deployment of security forces was done in the naxal-affected areas.
- LWE Mobile Tower Project: To improve mobile connectivity in the LWE areas, the Government in 2014, approved installation of mobile towers in LWE affected States.
- Aspirational Districts Programme: Launched in 2018, it aims to rapidly transform the districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.
- SAMADHAN:
- It stands for
- S- Smart Leadership,
- A- Aggressive Strategy,
- M- Motivation and Training,
- A- Actionable Intelligence,
- D- Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas),
- H- Harnessing Technology,
- A- Action plan for each Theatre, and
- N- No access to Financing.
- This doctrine is the one-stop solution for the LWE problem. It encompasses the entire strategy of government from short-term policy to long-term policy formulated at different levels.
- It stands for
Way Forward
- Though the number of incidents of LWE violence has come down in the recent past, continued efforts and focus are needed in eliminating such groups.
- Government needs to ensure two things; security of the peace-loving people and the development of the naxalism-affected regions.
- Centre and states should continue with their coordinated efforts in development and security both where Centre should play a supportive role with state police forces taking the lead.
- Government needs to undertake technological solutions such as the use of drones to minimize loss of lives of security personnel.