58 Maoist cadres neutralised, 194 arrested in past 5 years: Odisha Governor

Bhubaneswar, March 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) As many as 58 Maoist cadres have been neutralised in police action, 194 have been arrested and 108 surrendered during the last five years, Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal said on Friday.

While addressing the State Assembly on the inaugural day of the budget session, the Governor said Left Wing Extremism (LWE) was dealt with firmly during the last five years. The number of LWE affected districts now stands at 10 from 21, due to the proactive response of the state government and the security forces, he added.

The turnaround in the situation in Swabhiman Anchal (earlier known as cut-off area) of Malkangiri district, which once was a Maoist bastion, has been the most redeeming feature in the success achieved in the anti-LWE front in the state, he said.

Stating that the overall law and order situation has remained by and large peaceful in the state in 2021, Lal said that communal tension, agitations by different labour and service organisations and students' unrest, if any, were contained through the process of dialogue and police alertness.

Due consideration and empathy were shown in dealing with tribals, dalits, women, farmers, weaker sections, senior citizens and people of minority communities during their protests, agitation and demonstrations over different issues concerning them, he said.

The state government is placing much needed emphasis on human resources requirements of the state police, he said, adding that 4,205 posts in different ranks have been created to augment the capacity of the state police during the last five years.

Similarly, 29 police stations, five outposts and one town outpost have been created during the period, he pointed out.

Informing about the achievements under several welfare schemes of his government, the governor said: "My government is committed to provide pucca houses to all houseless and kutcha house dwellers in rural areas. Around 31 lakh pucca houses have been completed in the most transparent manner since 2014-15, with an expenditure of Rs 31,050 crore."

The system of incentive of Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana to the beneficiaries has set an example for other states. A total of Rs 1,283 crore has already been paid to 7.82 lakh beneficiaries as incentive. Further, 12.25 lakh eligible households have been identified for coverage under different rural housing schemes, Lal said.

To further include the eligible left-out beneficiaries under food security, the state government has been implementing its own State Food Security Scheme from October 2018. Under this scheme, 2.18 lakh households comprising 7.15 lakh eligible beneficiaries are covered.

For large-scale conservation of surface water inside streams and rivers, the government has approved 30 in-stream storage structures during 2021-22 in the first phase. Groundwater recharge through 779 minor irrigation and panchayati raj tanks covering 15 districts has also been taken up in association with the Green Climate Fund and work in 71 tanks has been completed in 2021-22, the Governor said.

For financing of Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) of sharecroppers, BALARAM scheme was launched aiming to cover five lakh farmers through one lakh JLGs. Till now, 22,358 JLGs have been formed and 6,214 JLGs have been provided with credit support of around Rs 59 crores, he pointed out.

Source: IANS