UPA's 100-day target for Naxalism

By M H Ahssan

Naxalite violence seems to be among the main preoccupations of the new UPA government and its home minister P Chidambaram.

Chidambaram, who had a short stint as home minister in the dying days of the previous government, has laid down a 100-day plan during which he wants to achieve many objectives.

A 100-day period is hardly enough to tackle all the problems of the country, but the plan to have a more coordinated response to face the naxalite menace is a good start. Lack of proper planning and coordination seems to have been one of the greatest obstacles facing any effort in the ongoing battle against the naxals, who have now spread their tentacles in vast swathes of the hinterland.

Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal are among the states where this problem is the greatest and the impunity with which naxal groups have been striking police posts and villages shows they have gathered critical strength in terms of arms and personnel.

Chidambaram's action plan includes beefing up intelligence outfits, setting up new counter-intelligence centres and coordinating the fight against naxal groups between not only states but also under a joint command that will include the Border Security Forces, Central Reserve Police Force and other paramilitary organisations. In short, more pro-active command and control coordination fed by focused intelligence gathering will be the mainstay of this plan.

However, what may look good on paper will take a long time before it takes off in reality and starts showing results. For one thing, the home ministry has admitted that lack of adequate manpower, especially at the officer level, is a major lacuna that has to be tackled.

Secondly, the government's ambitious idea to bring various paramilitary outfits under one joint command is likely to be a non-starter. Not only are some of these agencies, such as the BSF skeptical of switching from protecting the nation's borders to fighting an internal guerilla war, they may also be averse to working together. Similarly, an all state coordinated effort has not yet happened despite several best intentions of
governments.

Most of all, the political and socio-economic dimension of the issue must also be considered. Naxalism happens in the country's poorest areas; unless development comes there, any purely law and order action will be futile. Chidambaram's plans therefore must be part of a holistic effort by this government to understand and tackle naxalism in all its various dimensions.