Why have Maoists killed again and why do they repeatedly attack in Chhattisgarh?
- Ten personnel of the Chhattisgarh Police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) were killed in an IED attack by Maoists in the state’s Dantewada district.
- The special unit of the Chhattisgarh Police, the DRG, was raised from the local tribal population and trained to fight Maoists only a few years ago.
Why does Chhattisgarh continue to remain troubled?
- Late involvement of State Police in counter-Maoist operations
- It is a widely accepted principle in counter-Maoist strategy that the war against Left Wing Extremism can only be won by the state police and not central forces.
- This is because the state police have local knowledge and have local networks that are essential for the generation of intelligence.
- It was through the active involvement of local police in the leading role that states such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand were able to end their Maoist problem.
- According to security establishment sources , this process started late in Chhattisgarh.
- By this time, police of neighbouring states had pushed Maoists from their states to Chhattisgarh, making it a concentrated zone of Maoist influence.
- It is a widely accepted principle in counter-Maoist strategy that the war against Left Wing Extremism can only be won by the state police and not central forces.
- Absence of roads in the interiors of Bastar
- The absence of roads in the interiors of Bastar has stymied the operations of security forces.
- Minimal presence of the administration in the interiors of South Bastar has ensured that Maoists continue to have influence in the region.
How has the Centre responded?
- Different schemes to support LWE states
- Security Related Expenditure (SRE) - focuses on equipping security forces to fight Maoists;
- The Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) - aims to strengthen local police and intelligence setups;
- Special Central Assistance for building infrastructure such as roads in LWE districts.
- Massive presence of the CRPF
- The Centre has maintained a massive presence of the CRPF in the affected states for almost two decades.
- Erection of mobile towers
- Centre is pushing for the erection of mobile towers in the interiors
- It would help the local people connect with the mainstream and also generate technical intelligence.
- Maoists sympathisers on the radar of Centre
- The Centre has also unleashed the counter-terrorism National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate on CPI(Maoist) cadres, leaders, and sympathisers with the aim to choke their funding.
- SAMADHAN doctrine
- It 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.
- SAMADHAN 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,
- N- No access to Financing.
- ROSHNI
- It is a special initiative under Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (Formerly Aajeevika Skills)
- It was launched in June 2013 for training and placement of rural poor youth from 27 LWE-affected districts in 09 States
Prelims take away
- District Reserve Guard (DRG)
- ROSHNI
- SAMADHAN doctrine