M A I N   N E W S

50,000-strong force to counter militancy
Centre asks J-K, NE, Naxal-hit states to raise battalions

New Delhi, October 10
A 50,000 strong police force will be raised within two years at the Centre’s initiative to deal with militants in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East and Naxalites in some states.

The Centre has asked Jammu and Kashmir, north-eastern states and Naxalism-affected states to raise over 50 battalions of “India Reserve” to counter insurgency and acts of terror, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told PTI.

“The force will be under the command of the state police and will be deployed wherever necessary,” he said.

Mr Patil, who recently held a meeting to assess the internal security scenario in these regions, said the states had been asked to raise these battalions within two years. The Centre would give a grant of Rs 13 crore for each battalion, he said.

The idea was two-pronged: on one hand, the force would supplement the efforts of other security agencies to check acts of violence and on the other it would help in addressing the problem on unemployment among the youth of these states, Mr Patil said.

About the prime responsibility of the force, the Home Minister said besides being deployed in these trouble-torn states, the force could also be used for security operations elsewhere in the country.

The Centre was also planning to take various measures to provide training, modern communication modes and explore different means of transportation for the security personnel, the Home Minister said.

The forces needed to be trained considering the terrain they were to be deployed in and also provided with the right kind of modern weaponry, Mr Patil said.

Stressing that there had been demands from various states to make available helicopters for search operations in forest areas, he said the government had to examine different means of transportation.

The review meeting also underlined the need for better coordination vis-a-vis information and other activities of various security agencies in these states, Mr Patil said.

He said the Centre had undertaken the fencing of borders in various regions, including Jammu and Kashmir and the nearly 4,000-km long India-Bangladesh border.

“Fencing is helping a lot in checking infiltration,” he said. About 10 km-long border with Myanmar was also being fenced, the Home Minister said.

Mr Patil said new outposts were being built along the borders 3-4 km apart where regular patrolling would be conducted. — PTI