Maoist insurgency will be curbed in three years: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI - Home Minister P. Chidambaram Thursday expressed confidence that the Maoist insurgency would be curbed in three years with a two-pronged strategy of accelerated development and calibrated police action.

Chidambaram, addressing a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee for the home ministry, stressed that the “primary role and responsibility” to fight Left-wing extremism lay with the state governments.

The central government, he said, will assist the states in “every way - including deploying central paramilitary forces, sharing intelligence and funding - for both development schemes and security needs”.

“The government is confident that the problem of Left-wing extremism will be met with determination and overcome in the next three years,” Chidambaram said at the third meeting of the panel on the Maoist problem.

It was agreed to continue with the two-pronged strategy of development and police action.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly described the Maoist problem as the “gravest” security threat India faces.

According to home ministry data, the Leftist rebels have carried out at least 500 attacks, killing nearly 350 people in nine states in the last three months. Chhattisgarh has recorded the highest number of such strikes, parliament was told Wednesday.