Speech of Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik at the Chief Ministers’ Conference On Internal Security - New Delhi.

Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singhji, Hon’ble Union Home Minister Shri Chidambaramji, Hon’ble Chief Ministers of States, Hon’ble Ministers of Government of India, Hon’ble Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of Union Territories, Senior Officers from the Union and State Governments, ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to thank the Union Government for convening this Conference of Chief Ministers on the important subject of Internal Security. During the past few years, the Centre and State Governments have worked together to fight the disruptive forces that pose a threat to the internal security of the nation and create hurdles in the path of development. While substantial progress has been made in this regard, much more remains to be done.

Of particular concern to my State is the violence unleashed by Left Wing Extremist groups, especially the CPI (Maoist). Not only in Orissa, but also in our neighbouring States, these groups carry out acts of violence and disruption.

They continue to target security forces, economic infrastructure and the civilian population, largely innocent tribals. In pursuance to the decisions taken during the last Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security, the Union Government has inducted eight Battalions of Central Police Forces to Orissa in addition to the four Battalions deployed earlier. Out of these twelve Battalions, five Battalions of Border Security Force are deployed in the most affected districts of Koraput and Malkangiri while the seven Battalions of Central Reserve Police Force are in the Central and Northern parts of the State.

Meanwhile, the State Government on its part has enhanced its capacity to fight the militant menace by raising new units of Special Forces, India Reserve Battalions, etc.

Trends during the year 2010 indicate that there has been a marginal decrease in incidents of LWE violence from 149 in 2009 to 130 in 2010. Casualties to security forces have come down from 33 in 2009 to 22 in 2010. However, the Naxal group unleashed violence and terror against innocent civilians, particularly in interior and inter-State border areas. As against 28 civilian casualties in 2009, 53 civilians lost their lives in 2010. Most of the victims are tribals.

In the year 2010, considerable attention had to be given to induction and relocation of Central Forces and up-gradation of intelligence machinery. Locating central police forces in interior extremist affected areas and providing logistics were major challenges as the monsoon had just set in when these forces arrived. Besides, the problem of locating suitable land and constructing accommodation in the face of resistance from Maoist groups had also to be overcome.

The recent decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest for diversion of forest land up to 2 hectares for certain activities, including setting up Police establishments in LWE affected areas, has helped us to set up security force camps in Naxal affected areas. In addition to this, the efforts of militant groups to create a “zone of dominance” in the Narayanpatna area of Koraput district have been effectively countered. The Maoists also attempted to consolidate in Sundargarh district bordering Jharkhand by targeted killing of villagers because of which people had to leave their villages and take shelter in Police camps. The situation has been dealt with and most of the people have returned to their villages.

I am happy to inform you that during the last three months, our security forces have made significant achievements in containing the violent activities of Maoist groups. Our focus has been to intensify developmental activities in all areas where our Security Forces have contained Maoist violence. However, certain areas particularly the Saranda area along Orissa-Jharkhand border, Narayanpatna area of Koraput district, certain parts of Malkangiri district and areas along Chhatisgarh border continue to be cause of concern.

I would like to mention some of the steps taken by my Government to deal with the problem. The Special Operation Group (SOG) has proved to be a very effective force. Hence, we have decided to double the strength of the (SOG), which is at the forefront of anti-Naxalite operations. Four Special Security Battalions have been created to enhance the capability of 83 most vulnerable Police Stations and make them self reliant to carry out anti-Naxalite operations.

The Orissa Special Striking Force (OSSF) has been created by inducting ex-servicemen for guarding Police Stations, jails and other vulnerable locations. 5600 tribal youths have been recruited as Special Police Officers (SPOs) in 19 Naxalite affected districts for strengthening the anti-extremist capability of District Police. We have decided to absorb them in regular posts of Constables after they serve for a period of three years. District Volunteer Force (DVF) units have been created in extremist affected districts to carry out intelligence based operations. As per the decision taken in the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Chief Ministers of Naxal affected states on 14.7.2010, the Unified Command headed by the Chief Secretary has been set up to monitor anti-Naxalite operations. The State Government have also put in place a Surrender and Rehabilitation Scheme.

My Government recognizes that the problem of Left Wing Extremism is required to be addressed on the twin plank of development and security measures. As the State has embarked upon ambitious industrialization and development programmes, there is bound to be some displacement. We have therefore put in place a liberal Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy for the displaced families.

The State is aggressively implementing the Forest Rights Act through which 2,51,039 individual rights involving 3,84,630 acres of forest land have already been settled in favour of tribals and other traditional forest dwellers. More than 12,000 cases involving petty offences against the tribals have been dropped.

The Orissa Forest Act has recently been amended increasing the financial limit for compounding of offences. A drive is under way to compound these offences and withdraw the cases from the courts of law.

Primary health and education are being accorded high priority. 719 doctors have recently been recruited and recruitment of 24,000 school teachers has been taken up in order to fill up the vacancies. Further, to promote education among tribal girls, construction of 5,000 hostels have been taken up, out of which 2040 numbers of 100-seated girls hostels have already been completed.

Government of India may consider sanctioning 200 more Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas for Orissa for the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste girls.

Similarly, 25 more Eklavya Model Residential Schools may be sanctioned for the Tribal sub-plan areas of the State. Funds may also be provided to states for construction of staff quarters and special incentive for teaching staff in the naxal affected areas.

The State government has identified skill development and capacity building as a priority activity, especially in the tribal and left-wing affected districts. In the last couple of years more than 1.2 lakh people have been trained in the State. We are up-scaling the effort to cover more than one lakh youth per year for imparting the required skills and enabling them to access the opportunities available in an expanding economy.

I thank the Union Government for including 15 tribal and backward districts of Orissa under the Integrated Action Plan. The State Government has accorded very high priority to this scheme that has been considered as a special development response to the problem of left wing extremism. The District Collectors and field officers have been directed to reach out to the people in remote and inaccessible pockets of these districts and to undertake development projects that fulfill the critical needs of the people. Our focus is on bridging critical development gaps in these areas and to take programmes such as local connectivity, anganwadi centres, tribal schools, safe drinking water projects and health services.

Rural connectivity plays an important role in overall economic development of any area. The state has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Rural Development for development of 122 road projects at an estimated cost of Rs.236.97 crores in 5 LWE districts, identified earlier. The Empowered Committee of the Ministry has recommended the proposal. These projects may be sanctioned and funds released along with the funds required for completing the ongoing projects under PMGSY.

Orissa has created a dedicated intelligence unit to exclusively collect intelligence about terrorist organizations. Government is focusing on addressing the systemic short falls, developing quality human resources and upgrading the technical capability to strengthen the Intelligence apparatus. A “Suspect Identification System” is being set up by re-configuring land, revenue, police, telephone and crime data, which will serve as a data base for suspect identification. There has been quick sharing of intelligence among the stake holders through Multi Agency Centre (MAC).

No organized terrorist activity has been reported in Orissa. However, some very sensitive defence establishments are located along the Orissa Coast, which make the State vulnerable to terrorist and anti-National activities. Earlier, the State Police had busted some terrorist modules which were found indulging in espionage activities.

All the five Marine Police Stations sanctioned to the State in the first phase have been operationalised. 13 more Marine Police Stations have been sanctioned to the State, which will be operationalised with the assistance from the Central Government. Besides, the intelligence gathering mechanism has been upgraded to keep watch on terrorist modules and elements.
As advised by the Union Government, a Transparent Recruitment Policy has been adopted. The Personnel Policy is being streamlined keeping in mind rapid expansion of security forces.

Creating additional training infrastructure at a time of expansion is a challenge. Union Government had trained two of our India Reserve Battalions earlier. But presently no training slots for basic training have been allocated to the State in Central Training Institutions. State Government have set up a Permanent Training Resource Centre at Chandaka near Bhubaneswar to impart specialized training to police personnel in Anti-Extremist Tactics. Two ad hoc Anti-Extremist Training Centers have also been set up at Malkangiri and Rourkela.

Out of the four CIAT (Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist) Schools, three CIAT Schools have been made operational and steps are underway to set up a fourth CIAT School. The State Government is also in the process of setting up three more basic training institutes at Jajpur, Sambalpur and Koraput. The 13th Finance Commission has awarded Rs. 70 Crore for development of training infrastructure of the State Police over a period of 4 years from 2011-12. Steps are being taken to initiate as many works as possible in the first year itself in order to upgrade the training infrastructure on war footing.

My Government have taken prompt steps to implement the directives of Hon’ble Supreme Court on Police Reforms. Police Establishment Boards (PEB) have been set up to decide transfer and posting of Police officers. State Government has set up a Police Complaint Authority headed by the Lokpal to look into complaints against police personnel. The draft Orissa Police Bill on the lines recommended by the Union Government is under active consideration and will be taken up for legislation shortly.

As regards Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), a State Level Committee to monitor issues related to FICN has been formed. My Government have taken a decision to establish a Special Task Force in State Crime Branch to deal with FICN, economic offences and other forms of organized as well as Cyber Crime. We are also working on a draft legislation to check the activities of non-banking financial institutions. State agencies are in regular touch with central agencies in all the above areas.

Orissa has gone ahead with implementation of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Projects on a Mission Mode under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). It has been decided to establish 48 Training Centres for training of 28,000 personnel of the State Police. The Project Implementation and Monitoring (PIM) Report of the State has been sent to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and their approval is awaited.

Orissa has a track record of tolerant and inclusive policing to handle conflicts and law and order situations. During the preceding years, the State had to face law and order situations arising out of displacement due to rapid industrialization and mining activities. Security forces have been trained to deal with such kind of situations with minimal use of force.

As a part of our strategy to deal with law and order situations with minimum force, the police has been trained to use non-lethal weapons, road clearing equipment and to rapidly move to affected areas.

Police Stations have been provided with modern equipment and the desired mobility to handle developing situations.

As regards delegation of financial powers, the State Government is actively considering delegation of higher financial powers to the DGP at par with that of DGs of Central Police Forces.

We have been able to upgrade our infrastructure to some extent by optimum utilization of funds provided under Modernization of Police Force (MPF) Scheme and such other centrally sponsored schemes. We also are of the opinion that the MPF Scheme should be spread over a period of 10 years so that the State Governments are able to draw up a long term Perspective Plan and implement it.

Allocation of funds for each State should be worked out basing on a set of criteria, such as, population, crime index, sanctioned strength of police force and number of Police Stations. Taking into account the substantial expansion of Orissa Police and the requirement to train and equip the additional manpower as well as the rapid pace of urbanization and industrialization in the State and the naxal scenario, there is an urgent need for substantial enhancement in the allocation made by Government of India under this Scheme. Our request is to double the allocation for the year 2011- 12 under the normal MPF plan and make special allocation under the naxal sub-plan for the State of Orissa.

One of the major requirements for a responsive Police Force is the availability of residential buildings. Even after so many years of implementation of this scheme, the residential housing satisfaction of police personnel in Orissa is around 32%. Therefore, the initiatives under the MPF Scheme to achieve the target should be supplemented with additional and separate schemes and funds.

My Government is doing whatever it can to deal with the Naxal problem. However, I would like to place some specific requirements before the Union Government, which will go a long way in combating the menace more effectively.

Government of India have included 15 Naxal affected districts of Orissa under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme. Meanwhile, four more districts, namely, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Baragarh and Bolangir bordering Chhatisgarh have come under the influence of the CPI (Maoist). The Central Government may, therefore, include these four districts under the SRE Scheme.

Besides, in view of deployment of additional Battalions of the Central Para Military Forces, the expenditure for their logistic support has gone up substantially. State Government, in addition to its earlier proposal, has submitted a revised Action Plan of Rs. 167.95 crores under SRE Scheme for the year 2010-11. This may kindly be approved.

State Police require dedicated helicopters to respond to any exigency and move into interior areas for deep penetration operations. Besides, some forward posts located in highly inaccessible areas need to be maintained only by air support. While as advised by MHA, the State Government is negotiating with commercial organizations to avail dedicated helicopter services for the security forces, Union Government should, consider placing dedicated military helicopters at Bhubaneswar and Koraput to have a lasting solution to this problem.

Government of India may also organize a special drive with suitable modifications of physical standards for the recruitment of tribal youth from Orissa in the Defence forces.

To conclude, I would like to say that my Government is fully committed to deal with the anti national forces of Left Wing Extremism. These forces are a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India and are the biggest hurdle in our development efforts. We must fight them jointly till the problem is eliminated.

JAI HIND