M A I N   N E W S

No Army in Naxal zones: Govt
Fresh strategy to focus on revamping of police, paramilitary
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 11
Fearing political fallout, the Union Government has decided that the Army cannot be directly deployed to tackle the Naxal menace in the country.

“As of now the induction of the Army (into the Naxal belt) has been ruled out,” highly placed sources in the government said.

The Army is already overstretched due to counter-insurgency operations across Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, they reasoned. Also, the political cost of such a move would be huge, sources added.

The “Red corridor” will not be declared a disturbed area, said a senior official. The focus is on strengthening the state police departments. The Cabinet Committee on Security that met yesterday will again discuss the matter in the next few days on fine-tuning a programme with least assistance from the Army.

The chief ministers of the affected states will also be asked to list out their needs and give their opinions.

The Army will continue to provide training to the police and paramilitary personnel in jungle warfare. The state police departments will be augmented with better weapons and ammunition besides support of aerial imagery from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

“Some 1,100 retired Army “sappers”, who are experts in removing landmines will be hired on contract and attached with paramilitary battalions,’ said an official.

The Home Ministry has plans to recruit more retired Army men from infantry regiments. The recruitment will not be like the one envisaged under the sixth pay commission that wanted lateral entry for all Army jawans into the paramilitary.

Separately, the Centre has decided to procure MI-17 choppers for Naxal operations on lease basis. “We cannot be waiting for the IAF to spare choppers. They are already reeling under crunch. Enough MI-17 copters are available in the open market,” said a top official.