The Centre today toughened its position on Naxalism, ruling out talks with those engaged in waging a war against the state, and reserved its right to retaliate if attacked by them.
"There is no plan to hold talks with the Naxals. We will retaliate if attacked," Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said while addressing a conference of state Director Generals of Police (DGPs) and Chief Secretaries, the first such conclave to be held after the swearing in of a new government at the Centre.
The Centre, it was decided, would finance the creation of special anti-Naxal forces, on the lines of Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh, in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar. Greyhounds are credited with achieving considerable success in fighting the Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh.
The sense emanating from the daylong meeting was that Odisha and Maharashtra had fared better in combating the Naxalites, or the Left Wing Extremists, while Jharkhand and Bihar had lagged behind.
The meeting saw the states arriving at a consensus on finalizing a uniform approach on fighting Naxalism, and the important elements of this approach were security, development, entitlement (providing pattas to the tribals), and perception management.
The Union Home Ministry, during the course of the meeting, decided to micro-manage the construction of key roads in certain Naxal-hit areas to facilitate better access. It also made out a strong case for skill-building among the people staying in these areas to improve employment avenues.
The meeting also agreed on increasing the allowance for jawans engaged in combating Naxals, which is expected to be brought on par with that of security forces posted in Jammu and Kashmir.