Shah meets CMs of Maoist-hit states, reviews security

New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday met the Chief Ministers of states affected by Maoist violence and reviewed the operations against insurgent groups and initiatives taken.

In a first of its kind initiative since assuming charge at the Home Ministry, Shah chaired the meet attended by Chief Ministers and the representatives of 10 Maoist-hit states - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Shah met the Chief Secretaries and police chiefs of these states during the meeting held at Vigyan Bhawan here. Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy also attended the meeting.

It is learnt that top security officials including Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, IB chief Arvind Kumar and Director Generals of paramilitary forces also attended the meeting.

"The Home Minister wanted to review the ongoing operations in the Maoist-affected states, initiatives taken by the state governments and the developments so far there," a Home Ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

Cases of Maoist violence numbering 8,782 were reported during 2009-13 as against 4,969 during 2014-18, a reduction of 43.4 per cent.

In these cases, about 3,000 people, including security personnel, lost their lives during the 2009-13 period as against over 1,200 people who were killed in 2014-18, the official said.

A total of 1,400 Maoists were killed between 2009 and 2018. As many as 310 incidents of Maoist violence were reported in the first five months this year across the country in which 88 people were killed.

The Centre is implementing special assistance for most Maoist-affected districts with an annual outlay of Rs 1,000 crore to fill critical gaps in public infrastructure and services.