india

Updated: Oct 01, 2017 23:20 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government will spend over Rs 6,000 crore to battle left-wing insurgency (LWE) that has affected at least 10 Indian states, according to documents from the home ministry.

The amount is part of the Centre’s Rs 25,000 crore umbrella scheme to modernise the country’s central and state police forces over the next three years.

Earlier this week, the cabinet committee on security cleared the implementation of the Modernisation of state police forces (MPF) umbrella scheme.

Of the Rs 6,031 crore to be spent on Left-wing extremism (LWE), roughly Rs 5,196 crore would be spent on developing the police, security and public infrastructure in states considered to be most affected by the Maoist movement.

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh come under the list.

Thirty-five districts in these ten states, especially Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, are considered to be the worst affected.

The centre will fund 80% of the MPF scheme, translating to Rs 18,636 crore, while states will pitch in the rest.

According to documents from the home ministry, copies of which are with HT, the government will also provide Rs 3,000 crore to build public infrastructure and services, such as schools, anganwadi centers, health centers and roads in the 35 worst LWE-affected districts.

The fund has been broken down into several smaller portions.

One of the major expenses is Rs 705 crore which the Centre will pay states for their expenditure on using services of the central police forces.

Other portions of the Centre’s expenditure include Rs 150 crore to be spent on “assistance to central agencies”, Rs 60 crore on a “civic action plan” and Rs 22.5 crore for a “media plan”.

The “assistance to Central agencies” will include expenditure like hiring helicopters.

Under the “civic action plan” each company of security forces posted in LWE-affected areas will be given Rs 3 lakh to be spent on welfare of locals.

The “media plan” of the Centre will include costs incurred to counter the “false propaganda of the LWE cadres against the government”, the official document states.

Aside from this, an additional Rs 1,050 crore has been reserved by the Centre as expenditure incurred on ex-gratia payments to families of civilians and security forces killed in LWE-related violence.

The Centre will provide Rs 630 crore to this fund and states will spend Rs 420 crore.

In another sub-scheme under the MPF, Rs 1044 crores will be spent on training, weaponry, vehicles and 250 fortified police station and outposts in LWE-affected states. In this sub-scheme, Rs 628.8 crore of Rs 1,044 crores will be provided by the Centre and the rest by states.

A senior home ministry official said the government was “very serious” about putting an end to LWE as the violence perpetrated by Maoists has cost lives of many in the past few years.

HT had earlier reported that the number of security force personnel killed in Maoist-affected areas was more than that in conflict-hit Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) this year, with left-wing insurgency accounting for the deaths of 67 soldiers out of 106 casualties in the first seven months of 2017.