Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Odisha has demanded for installation of mobile towers on a war footing basis in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of the State during a national level meeting on LWE chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah held in New Delhi today.
Also, the State has demanded for a dedicated helicopter for the movement of security forces, police, officials, etc. to respond to exigencies in the context of LWE conflict.
“We have demanded for implementation of various developmental programmes in the 10 Maoist affected districts of the State. Our main demand is for installation of mobile towers on a war footing in these areas as people face a lot of inconvenience due to lack of telecommunication facilities,” informed Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, who participated in the meeting on behalf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “In addition to these, we have demanded for provision of a dedicated helicopter for the movement of security forces, police, officials, etc. to respond to exigencies during LWE conflict. Union Home Minister Shah expressed satisfaction over the dwindling influence of LWE in the State,” Arukha added.
He said that Odisha is in a much better position in the matter of curbing Naxal menace.
“Earlier about 21 districts in Odisha were Naxal affected. But today due to the timely measures taken by the Chief Minister like improving communication facilities, provision of 7000 smartphones have been distributed to the students of the area to facilitate study, deputing super specialists under Mukhyamantri Bayu Yojana to different areas for providing improved health care to the people, different developmental works in these areas Naxal activities have decreased in the State. Now Maoist activities are limited to 10 districts in the State,” he explained.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and DG of Police Sunil Kumar Bansal also attended this meeting.
