Strong steps, development to tackle Maoists: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Government seeks to deal with the menace of Maoists using strong steps as well as through proper development of neglected areas, Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha.

He said besides adopting stringent measures to deal with the problem, government wants to develop underdeveloped areas so that the cause of Left Wing Extremism can be dealt with.

Admitting that weapons with state police personnel are not as good as they should be, he said the Centre is constantly making efforts to modernise police infrastructure.

C N Jayadevan (CPI) said he is a former Naxal but the land reforms weaned him away from the movement. He wanted to know whether the Centre would ask states to pay proper wages to workers and implement land reforms.

Singh said though the Home Ministry does not deal with the issue, Centre keeps sending states advisories from time to time to pay minimum wages. He also said the states have been asked to implement the Land Act.

He said under the 'additional central assistance' for Left Wing Extremism affected areas, so far 1,12,433 projects have been completed at a cost of Rs 6,769.72 crore.

He said the development agenda in the LWE areas also envisages development of 5,477 km of roads in eight states at a cost of Rs 7,300 crore.

Out of this, a total length of 3,133 km has been completed.