Naxal Menace

Not a single passes without the Naxalite violence at one place or the other. The Naxalites are striking at will in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. They bomb important installations and kill security personnel and innocent people alike. Over 2,281 civilians and 821 security personnel have been killed due to Maoist violence between 2004 and 2008 along with much destruction of public property. The police forces, in their present condition, can hardly be expected to take on the Maoists.

The audacity with which they hijacked a passenger train in Jharkhand in broad daylight and took 700 passengers hostage speaks volumes about their strength. Luckily, all of them were released unharmed after a six-hour siege, but only after the Naxalites bombed a railway station, torched some oil tankers and caused panic. The threat has become more serious because a chunk of the police force has been deployed on election duty. It seems targeting infrastructural facilities is a part of their strategy.

Landmine Blast in Bihar
Five policemen have been killed when Maoists triggered a landmine blast on a vehicle carrying a police patrolling party in Bihar's Muzaffarpur District. Five policemen died on the spot while the vehicle driver was reported as seriously injured.When the security personnel were returning from duty an Improvised Explosive Device blast took place near a bridge. The blast killed everybody except the driver who got seriously injured.

In the past few weeks, several police personnel and other officials were also fatally attacked across four States--Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa--termed as the 'Red Belt' due to the presence of ultra Maoist-Leninists.

CAG Report
The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) is a severe indictment of the State Governments of those States affected by Maoist violence for not doing enough to modernise the State Police forces despite funds being available. This goes to show that the Maoist threat is not being taken seriously.

In its review of police modernisation in 16 States where there have been several Maoist attacks since 2008, the CAG has found that the State Police forces have been handicapped in their battles with Maoist terrorists. This is largely due to the grave lapses in the proper utilisation of funds, weaponry, communications and training. For instance, Andhra Pradesh, according the review for the period 2002-2007, utilised only 13 to 38 per cent of the funds meant for police modernisation. This means that many of the police stations in the sensitive areas of the State did not even have proper transportation vehicles, and the police personnel had to make do with outdated weapons. States such as Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand have been similarly culpable with funds not having been properly utilised.

The CAG report has also not ruled out the misappropriation of funds on the part of some of these State administrations. Thus, it appears that it is not just the Centre that has allowed the Maoists to flourish by following a soft policy towards them, but it is also the State Governments that have been complacent and have not taken appropriate steps to tackle the problem. The result has been that today a large area in central India, stretching from the eastern districts of Maharashtra all the way to Jharkhand, has been infested by the Maoists. And the security forces have not been able to defeat them despite their best efforts.


In view of the increasing Naxalite attacks, the Centre and the States need to rethink their strategies. The Centre and the state governments must demonstrate the necessary political will and play a leadership role in finding a lasting solution to the crisis. As the roots of the crisis lay in growing socio-economic inequalities and the lack of basic infrastructure and services, the Centre and the States would do well to address these issues also.