Govt sanctions Rs 120 crore to fortify 400 police stations

New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) The Indian government has
sanctioned Rs 120 crore to fortify 400 police stations located
in Naxal affected areas across the country.
Official sources said the first instalment of Rs 30 lakh
to each of the 400 police stations has been sanctioned for
construction of new buildings, residential complex, bunkers
and to procure arms and communication equipment.
Earlier, the Home Ministry had decided to fortify the
400 police stations located in 83 Naxal-hit districts at a
cost of Rs two crore each. Out of this amount the Central
government will provide Rs 1.60 crore while the remaining Rs
40 lakh would be given by the state governments.
"Rs 30 lakh is the first instalment. We will release the
remaining amount phase-wise," a source said.
This project is part of the Home Ministry's continuous
effort to provide assistance in terms of extending logistics
and deploying paramilitary forces to the states to fight
Maoists.
The Central government has shouldered its share of
responsibility in dealing with the Maoists and has deployed 71
battalions (around 71,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces.
The budget allocation under Security Related Expenditure
scheme has been increased to Rs 337 crore in 2011-12 as
against only Rs 80 crore in 2008-09.
Likewise, the Budget allocation under Special
Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) has been increased to Rs 140 crore
in 2011-12 as against only Rs 30 crore in 2009-10.
The Central government has also placed Rs 3,300 crore
with the District Administration of 60 districts under the
Integrated Action Plan (IAP) and 67,175 works are under
implementation. Eighteen more districts will be added under
IAP in 2012-13 .
Naxal violence has been reported in areas falling under
270 police stations in 64 districts in eight states.
Upto August, there have been around 850 incidents (1,025
last year), resulting in around 300 deaths (473 last year).
PTI ACB
MNS