NEW DELHI: Now that his party was in power, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh expected the Union Home Ministry to positively respond to his state’s demand that the Centre meet the expenses to fight Maoists . However, he was disappointed as the Narendra Modi-led BJP government gave the same response as its predecessor.Home Minister Rajnath Singh has rejected a request of Raman Singh to waive off nearly Rs 2,400 crore bill, pending since 2007, for deployment of CRPF and other paramilitary forces to fight Maoists in the state. The message was conveyed to the CM vide a Home Ministry letter on November 19. Raman Singh had resubmitted the request to the Union Home Minister after the BJP came to power at the Centre. He asked for exemption of cost of deployment charges of CRPF for nine years, with effect from July 1, 2007, but the Home Ministry waved the same rule book to turn down Raman’s request.A senior Home Ministry official said the CM had impressed upon Rajnath Singh that the Centre should bear the full expenditure for CRPF fighting Maoists as it was a national responsibility and not a local law-and-order problem.

He pointed out to Rajnath Singh that the special category states like those in the northeast, J&K and Himachal Pradesh bear only 10% of the cost of deployment of central forces while all other states have to cough up the whole cost. The chief minister also said his state with a total budget of Rs 54,000 crore was in no position to pay the outstanding bill of Rs 2,400 crore to the Centre.

The chief minister also requested for 26 more central battalions in Bastar, in addition to 48 battalions already in the state. The Centre, however, told Raman Singh additional forces would be provided only by 2016 and the state will have to cough up the entire cost. The Union Home Ministry told Raman Singh that there was no provision to waive off deployment expenditure in Maoist-affected states. Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar owe the Centre nearly Rs 5,000 crore on account of CRPF deployment.