The Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has called upon the Union home ministry to substantially increase financial assistance for security related infrastructure as well as deploy four more CRPF (Central Reserve Police Forces) battalions for the state to contain and prevent Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence.
Patnaik also requested the ministry to include four more districts-Nuapada, Bargarh, Bolangir and Kalahandii under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme.
The demands were made by the state Chief Minister at the inter-state coordination committee meeting of LWE affected states chaired by the Union home minister P Chidambaram. The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was also present at the meeting.
At the meeting, Patnaik impressed upon the need for enhanced coordination among all LWE hit states. He also raised the demand for provisioning a dedicated helicopter for Orissa Police. Besides, he requested the ministry to depute officers from the paramilitary forces to work with the Orissa Police for Naxal operations.
Chidambaram assured Patnaik that the proposals of Orissa would be given a favourable consideration of the ministry.