The Centre today said there was no proposal to hold direct talks with Naxals but it would welcome such a dialogue between the Left wing extremists and any state government.
"There is no proposal for the Central government to hold talks directly with the Left wing extremists," Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken told Rajya Sabha today.
"State governments have, from time to time, appealed to the Left wing extremists to abjure violence and hold talks with the government on any issues that are of concern to them...," he said.
The Minister said the Central government does not have any information whether any state government is now engaged in any talks with the Left wing extremists.
"As far as the Central government is concerned, it will welcome such talks between state governments and Left wing extremists provided Left wing extremists abjure violence and give up their so-called 'armed struggle'," Maken said.
"...The Left Wing Extremist groups, particularly, the CPI (Maoist) maintain fraternal links with communist parties of several countries. The government is maintaining a close watch on the situation and takes appropriate action as are necessary," the Minister said in reply to another question in Rajya Sabha. Available intelligence inputs indicate that Naxals were involved in extortion from contractors, businessmen, industrialists and transporters among others in affected Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra. "Exact quantum of extortion is not known," the minister said.
Maken said government has adopted an integrated approach in dealing with such extremists activities in the arenas of security, development and public perceptions.
"State governments deal with the various issues related to naxalite activities in the states. The Central government supplements their efforts in several ways. These includes deployment of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) and Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA)...," Maken said.
According to the minister, the action plan to strengthen police and intelligence machinery includes, inter-alia, initiatives for gearing up intelligence machinery, sharing of intelligence and operational coordination between different agencies of the Central and the state governments.