You were wrong if you thought the government was pulling out all the stops to secure our troops fighting the Maoist menace, especially against the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) which are their weapon of choice.

Centre's top bureaucrat, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, recently made some facts known during a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.

Mehrishi, an IAS officer from the 1978 batch, was party to a discussion concerning Demand For Grants (DFG) in the meeting when the deliberation veered towards providing better security for troops from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deployed in countering the Maoist menace across the ten affected states.

One of the members of the committee raised the issue of regular killing of civilians and CRPF personnel and sought to know whether any mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles were being procured for the protection of the CRPF personnel. The report which was tabled on March 15 states, "The Home Secretary stated that there was no plan to procure such vehicles as they were prohibitively expensive and there was no money available for the purpose".

The Home Ministry believes there has been 'unprecedented improvement in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) (Home Ministry's term for Maoist violence) scenario across the country' with 'an overall 7 per cent reduction in violent incidents (1136 to 1048) and 30 per cent reduction (397 to 278) in LWE related deaths since the end of 2013'.

However, the statistics with the CRPF which has nearly 90 of its battalions (each with 800 personnel) tell a different story.

WEAPONS OF CHOICE

From 2014 the forces have faced an increasing barrage of IEDs from the Maoist insurgents. Year-wise increase in the recoveries, number of blasts and the growing expertise of the insurgents in concealing them reveals IEDs are the weapon of choice for Maoists.

Between January 1, 2014 and March 27, 2017 the CRPF has faced 121 blasts and has recovered 2534 IEDs across the affected states. The CRPF also lost 59 personnel to Maoist IEDs and had 169 injured as a result.

The report further states, "The Ministry was trying to work with local manufacturers for bullet-proofing the vehicles. The Joint Secretary further added that the private sector in India was not producing any mine protected vehicles with the level of protection required'. The Home Ministry was in the process of providing 300 light bullet proof vehicles within the next six months.

For this response, the Home Ministry received a rap on its knuckles.

One of the members pointed out, 'while bullet-proof vehicles were useful in J&K however, they may not be able to protect personnel in LWE affected areas in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where hundreds of paramilitary and police personnel were getting killed because of mines and ambushes. He also stated that not sanctioning funds for such necessary equipment is grave negligence'.

In its conclusion, the report states, "The Committee is constrained to observe that lack of financial resources is becoming a reason for casualty of valuable lives of police and CAPF personnel which are being lost in the battle against Left Wing Extremism. The Committee feels that bullet-proof vehicles would not be safe or sufficient for use in LWE areas. On the other hand, the Ministry feels constrained to procure advanced equipment due to lack of financial resources. In such a scenario, the Committee recommends that the Government should explore the opportunities created by the Make In India programme and develop indigenous vehicles. The Committee also recommends that in the meanwhile, the Ministry should explore other measures including import of suitable vehicles".

The said committee is chaired by former Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and has a total of 31 members including ten from Rajya Sabha and the 21 from Lok Sabha.

THE ABSURDITY

Back in 2009, under P Chidambaram, the Home Ministry had cleared the CRPF to procure 352 MPVs for use in Maoist affected areas. The Home Ministry recently approved an additional 180 MPVs for CRPF in its Modernisation Plan II.

Yet the CRPF is currently providing its troops roughly 120 outdated and poorly serviced MPVs.

REACTIONS

Despite repeated calls and text messages Mehrishi did not reply. The MHA too said it would not like to comment.

K Vijay Kumar, former Director General of the CRPF, who was later appointed as a Senior Security Adviser by the Home Ministry said, "We require a spectrum of Mine Protected Vehicles and not just one type/class of it. Towards protecting our troops better against IEDs, combination of human effort, canine effort and gadgetry is required".

Sudeep Lakhtakia, Additional Director General who is holding charge as the Director General of the CRPF said, "The MPVs have been purchased and used. However there is a reason behind their limited utility to the ground forces. What goes against the usage of these vehicles is a lack of roads, terrain which does not support wheeled operations and the fact that Maoists simply pack in more explosives to debilitate and defeat the vehicle. We are looking at deploying technology in the form of drones, cameras and armoured vehicles can be one of them".

LIP SERVICE

Within days of assuming charge, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on June 13, 2014 had told his ministry to ensure the 'best quality of training and equipment' for personnel from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and state police forces.

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