Hyderabad: Union home minister Amit Shah appreciated Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh for facing the Maoist problem. Mr Shah said the Telugu states stood as a role model in facing the Naxal menace.
He was speaking at a meeting of Chief Ministers of Maoist and left-wing extremism affected states on Monday at Delhi. The Centre and the states resolved to jointly fight left-wing extremism, with Mr Shah declaring that Maoists were against the idea of democracy and would be uprooted.
The main agenda of the meeting was security and development in Maoist-affected areas. The Centre is planning to constitute a coordination committee at the national level to oversee the increase of infrastructure in the affected areas.
The meeting was attended by AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telangana state Deputy Chief Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali apart from other Chief Ministers. The home ministry gave a Powerpoint presentation about the situation in all the affected districts. The ministry said 105 districts have Maoist influence of which 35 are totally affected by Maoists. The home ministry said that among the 35 affected districts, the Maoists were present in large numbers in 10.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla said AP and TS had successfully controlled Maoists. In TS, Bhupalpally, Mahbuba-bad, Kohtagudem, Kha-mmam, Manchiryal the Maoists were trying to register presence, as also in the north costal and East Godavari districts.
