Anti-Naxal special desk set up in Home Ministry

New Delhi, Oct 26: To check Naxal activities in different parts of the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to set up a special Naxal Desk and constitute an Empowered Group of Ministers (e-GoM). The idea of setting up a Naxal Desk was put forth in August this year. The Desk will be headed by an Additional Secretary. Besides the Naxal Desk, there will be a mechanism for an inter-ministerial committee for carrying out a detailed review of the implementation of development schemes in the affected areas which will meet ahead of the quarterly meetings of the Coordination Centre on Naxalism. The Task Force meeting on Naxalites scheduled for Friday will discuss the steps to be taken to combat Naxal violence. Till August this year 115 security personnel and 401 civilians were killed by Naxals as compared to 94 security persons and 364 civilians killed last year. Chhattisgarh, the worst affected state registered a sharp rise in the initial eight months of this year. The Task Force on Naxalism was constituted in October 2004 under the aegis of the Special Secretary (Internal Security) to work out steps needed to curb the rise of Naxalism. The Task Force comprises the nodal officers of the nine Naxal-affected States Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and representatives of Intelligence Bureau, CRPF and Sashtra Seema Bal (SSB). According to sources the idea of having an e-GoM was put forth by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to closely monitor the spread of Naxalite movement in the country. Many Naxal-hit states have decided to set up Special Forces for countering Naxal violence in their respective states.