Ranchi/Bhubaneswar, Nov 9: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today told the Orissa and Jharkhand governments that civilian and security force casualties in Maoist violence were “unacceptably high” and should be brought down.
“The number of civilian and security personnel casualties is still unacceptably high. First it should drop considerably. I think a lot of work is to be done,” he told reporters at Ranchi after a visit to Orissa.
“Between June and October there have been some significant successes, but I don't think we can rest on our successes (as) the level of violence (in Jharkhand) is still unacceptably high,” he said.
From three battalions in the state five to six years ago, he said the state now had 14 CRPF and two CoBRA battalions, besides its own 13,000-14,000 personnel to combat Maoists.
After reviewing steps and actions being taken by the state against Maoists in the presence of Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Chidambaram said Jharkhand was one of the most affected states as far as Left-wing extremism was concerned and roughly 130 police station areas were affected.
Stating that the Centre would stand by but it was the state's responsibility to deal with Maoists, he hoped that there would be ‘greater and greater' results in the future.
Reviewing the progress of infrastructural work in the 14 districts covered in the Integrated Action Plan (IAP), he said on the physical side 50 per cent work was complete and on the financial side 58 per cent.
The chief minister said, “hopefully, the Centre and other states will take a lesson from Odisha in combating the LWE menace.”
Patnaik countered Chidambaram saying that Odisha and its people were always open to learning what was beneficial for the state.
He said the state was successful in substantially reducing Maoist violence this year.
A senior official of the state home department said that in 2010 there were 130 incidents of Maoist violence where 87 people comprising civilians and security personnel were killed. The figure for this year till October end was 48.
“Is it not a sign of reduction in Maoist violence in the state? “ he asked.
