National

6 jungle warfare training schools to be set up soon

NEW DELHI: The Union government on Wednesday decided to set up six jungle warfare and counter-insurgency training schools to raise and train special forces for tackling naxal violence.

Announcing the multi-pronged strategy to counter naxal violence in nearly a dozen States, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said the major challenge was to focus on development projects and at the same time provide a conducive security environment.

Mr. Gupta presided over a high-level meeting here to review the situation in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, which were worst affected by the naxal violence. He told journalists that after a series of meetings with top officials of the four States, eight districts were selected for implementation of integrated security and development projects. “These will be model districts and the experiment here will be replicated in other naxal violence-hit districts.”

The Home Secretary said “development deficit” would be reduced in naxal violence-hit districts. He discounted reports that naxal cadres were sympathetic towards people and said they were posing a serious challenge to development projects and the security environment.

Referring to Salwa Judum, Mr. Gupta said the naxals saw such local resistance units as an “impediment” to their designs.

He said the four States had been asked to speedily fill police vacancies, share intelligence and strike better coordination among themselves.

Mr. Gupta said some of the battalions of the special anti-naxal force were being raised within the Central Reserve Police Force. The force would ultimately have 10 battalions and would be ready for complete deployment in two years.

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