The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh presided over the Review Meeting of Left Wing Extremism affected States here today. Following is the text of his Opening Remarks made during the Inaugural Session this morning on Security Issues:

 

“Chief Ministers and Ministers of participating States, my colleagues the Ministers of State in the Home Ministry, National Security Advisor, Union Home Secretary, Union Defence Secretary, DIB, Director Generals of Central Armed Police Forces, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of the State Governments, Collectors and SPs of the 35 worst affected districts and other senior officers of the Government of India and the States.

-          This meeting has been convened to jointly understand the different aspects of Left Wing Extremism with the 10 affected States, so that Left Wing Extremism can be countered with full force and competence. To discuss and work out an integrated strategy of Security and by giving impetus to Development in the 35 worst affected districts, the LWE influence can be eliminated.

-          The whole country is agitated with the martyrdom of 25 CRPF personnel in the incident of April 24, 2017 in Burkapal, Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. In such situations, the challenge before us is to maintain focus and move towards our goal with speed, in a planned manner.  

-          I am concerned but not perturbed by the attack on the CRPF Camp by the Left Wing Extremists. Today’s meeting is therefore important because we have to consider and deliberate in totality, as to what would be our thinking, our strategy, our preparedness and how we have to use our resources. I have full confidence on you, and our forces and together, with a new strategy and with full force we will counter and achieve victory against Left Wing Extremism.

-          India is the largest democracy in the world. However, Left Wing Extremism desires to weaken and make the roots of democracy hollow. The development of new India that our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji is envisaging is based on development and strength of democracy. In order to free India from the influence of LWE that encourage violence and killing, it is necessary that we all should think and work in this direction. I believe that efforts to suppress democracy through the influence of the gun will never succeed.

-          Today in this room Chief Ministers and Heads of Administrative and Police department of 10 States are present. You are the policy-makers as well as the implementation agencies. The fight against Left Wing Extremism is a coordinated battle on security and development fronts that has to be fought to finish and won. Who could be more suitable and competent than you all? The presence of our forces should instil fear in the Left Wing Extremists and a sense of confidence among the local people and tribals – ‘Let your action speak for itself’’.

 

-  12000 citizens of our country have lost their lives in violent activities of the Left Wing Extremists.

-  Out of these 12000 people, 2700 are jawans of the Security Forces and the remaining 9300 are innocent and simple common people who are not guilty.

-  The anti-development Left Wing Extremism not only target the Security Forces but also public property like roads, culverts, railway tracks, electricity and telephone towers, hospitals, schools, anganwadi and panchayat bhawans etc, that are created by the Government for benefit of the common man.

- It is evident from the destruction caused by the Left Wing Extremists that they do not want people to get facilities and access to the development, in the remote and inaccessible areas, because these facilities provide the path of economic and social progress, to the local people. It also joins them to the mainstream of the nation. The cancer of LWE flourishes in poverty or backwardness. Therefore, the LWE strategy is to ensure that the people of this area stay without electricity, without road, without education, so that the vested interest of the Left Wing Extremists continues unabated.

Solution SAMADHAN-       

- The solution to the LWE problem is not possible with any silver bullet. There is no short-cut for it. For this short term, medium term and long term policies need to be formulated at different levels. There is need to find a solution for this problem and the strategy is available and encompassed in the word ‘SAMADHAN’ which means-

1.         S- Smart Leadership

2.         A- Aggressive Strategy

3.         M- Motivation and Training

4.         A- Actionable Intelligence

5.         D- Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas)

6.         H- Harnessing Technology

7.         A- Action plan for each Theatre

8.         N- No access to Financing

 

I would like to elaborate the new Doctrine ‘SAMADHAN’ for use in Security Operations:

1. S – Smart Leadership-

-  You also know that effective leadership can lead to any desired outcome. A leader is the one who makes the impossible possible, converts failure to success and defeat to victory.

- The key properties of ‘Smart Leadership’ are:

Vision, Mission, Passion and Self belief.

 

- A leadership full of self confidence should have a solid vision on how he would envisage the challenges of the future and prepare his team and energise his team to a mission mode, in order to achieve his objectives. To make his team secure, disciplined and victorious, should be of paramount importance for him.

- The success stories of many police officers in India are inscribed in the minds of the common people, as to how they kept their teams alive with energy. On the Left Wing Extremism front, we also need such leadership, who despite adversity, keep their jawans full of enthusiasm and teach them only to win.

- Be it Central Forces or the district police, they will have to work under a coordinated strategy and plan. The most important thing is that the officers will have to lead from the front. Success in this regard cannot be achieved only by sitting in Delhi, Ranchi or Raipur.

- Unified Co-Ordination and Command is needed in the LWE Front. Along with Strategic Command, Unified Command is also required at the Operational and Tactical Level. Intelligence sharing is important too.

 

2. A-Aggressive Strategy-

You are aware that in the last three years, Government has seen good results from the Multi Pronged Strategy against Left Wing Extremism. Statistics of violence from 2014 to 2016 indicates this. In the year 2016, 150 percent Left Wing Extremists were killed as compared to the previous year 2015, and arrests and surrender taken together has seen an increase of 47 percent.

 

- In the year 2016, Left Wing Extremists have suffered heavy losses. They also mentioned this in their statements and documents. It is also true that Left Wing Extremists are constantly trying to take action against the security forces to increase the morale of their cadres, and undoubtedly the incident of the Burkapal of Sukma is one such example.

 

- Even in the year 2017, figures show that LWE  incidents have decreased by 23.3 percent (377 to 289). But two to three incidents have occurred in which Security Forces have suffered heavy losses. Therefore, it is necessary that an analysis of these events is carried out, in order to assess the reasons as to why  such incidents occur. The first session of the meeting will analyse the mechanism in place to combat Left Wing Extremism and other related issues.

 

- Today, we need to consider whether to react only after the occurrence of such events? Should our role not be Proactive?

- Learning from the old incidents, we need to bring aggression into our policy. Aggression in thinking, Aggression in strategy, Aggression in deployment of forces, Aggression in operations, Aggression in development and Aggression in road construction.

- We will have to be cautious that extremely defensive deployment may result in reduction of operational offensive.

- We have to consider that although the figures of the surrenders of the Left Wing Extremisms are increasing, but whether benefit of intelligence from these surrendered LWE cadres is being derived.

- We must ensure that the States take the ownership of LWE operations and CAPFs cooperate with them fully. At the same time, the forces on the Ground level should not lack leadership. "Unity of Purpose" and "Unity of Action" are essential for the success of operations.

 

3. M - Motivation and Training -

- The Government has superior resources, training, technology, than the Left Wing Extremists. But there is a need for better coordinated efforts to counter the strategy of the LWE.

- Success on this front cannot be achieved only by being emotional in this regard. The right vision, right strategy, efficient use of resources, knowledge of enemy strengths and weaknesses, training of their security forces, their facilities and arrangements of tools are necessary for success. So we have to consider all these issues correctly, point wise. Today's meeting is important in this regard.

- In the camps where the security forces are residing, proper facilities of power, water, connectivity should be provided so that the Security Forces may remain stress free. They should also be able to contact their family as per requirement.

- In addition to information about the place of posting, security forces should also have knowledge of language, dialects, traditions and culture so that they can adapt to the local conditions and earn the trust of the local people.

- Security forces must adhere to Standard Operating Procedures so that they are conscious about their own security.

 

4. A-Actionable Intelligence

- To develop actionable intelligence it is important that all intelligence agencies and security forces establish a good network with local people.

- Surrendered LWE cadre should be used for intelligence collection to the maximum possible.

- In comparison to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Technical Intelligence Inputs in Bastar Zone of Chhattisgarh are very low and the reason for this is only 20 percent effective connectivity in Bastar. It is only 4 percent in a district like Sukma. There is a need to create special action plans through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to increase connectivity across the entire LWE affected area.

- From the point of view of Intelligence, I believe that there is a need to depute Shadow Intelligence Officers to trace the prominent targets associated with Left Wing Extremism.

- There is a need to establish specific procedures between State Police and Central Forces for the exchange and use of intelligence.

 

5. D-Dashboard based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas)

- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Result Areas (KRAs) should be determined both for the State Police and the CAPFs. This would not only help to assess the preparedness but also their performance, regular progress of its unit and individual abilities of each police officer.

 

6. H - Harnessing Technology -

- We are all aware that Technology is a Force Multiplier.

- Many technologies including Space, IT and Communication have brought revolutionary changes in the world. Many new techniques are also being used in dealing with law and order and the crime. On the LWE  front, there is a need to use more of such latest technologies.

Now I would like to talk about the use of some Cutting edge Technologies : -

- Currently the use of the UAV is sub-optimal, that needs to be augmented both by numbers and by use in the right place.

- The Mini UAVs are extremely useful. Therefore, they should be procured and available in more quantities. We must try that with every battalion there must be atleast one UAV / Mini UAV.

- We need to use high resolution PTZ Cameras, GPS Tracking, Handheld Thermal Imaging, Radar, Satellite Image etc.

- We also know that Left Wing Extremists mostly use looted weapons. In order to prevent this, it would be advisiable to have 

- Trackers in Weapons,

- Biometrics in smart gun triggers.

- Trackers should also be embedded in Shoes, BP jackets etc.

- In addition, Unique identification numbers should also be used in Gelatine and other explosive materials.

- States that do not have expertise in such state of the art technology, the Central Government can assist in this regard.

 

7. A-Action plan for each theatre-

- You are also aware that the situation of Left Wing Extremism in different States is not the same.

- In different States, to fight Left extremism, there is a need to fight on multiple fronts and to create a specific action plan for each of such fronts, in order to achieve success on a systematic basis.

- There is a need to create separate short-term, medium-term, long-term strategies, whose goals and deadlines are clearly defined. The Implementation should be done on a Mission Mode defining the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for continuous monitoring and Key Result Areas (KRAs), that should also be aligned with these strategies.

 

8. N-No access to financing-

- It is well-known that economic resources play an important role in any war or any such exercise, because when money is available, only then will it be possible to buy, eat, drink and possess ammunition and weapons. Therefore, choking the financial resources of the LWE is the most basic mantra in this fight.

- I would like to remind you how the US took the 9/11 incident as a challenge, in order to prevent it from repeating itself. In the report it was stated that the 9/11 incident was not a "failure of intelligence but the failure of Imagination". Therefore, the 'Samadhan' which we have discussed today has inbuilt potential for imagination. We have to work on imaginative thinking on the whole situation so that we can "Out Think" and "Out Manoeuvre"  the LWE.

- We have come a long way in defeating the fight with Left Wing Extremists. In the remote areas, our young men are constantly working for the development and protection of the area endangering their lives. In the yagya for the security of the country many soldiers have been martyred. I am convinced that their martyrdom will not go in vain. That day is not far when this mindless violence will be completely finished and once again the atmosphere of peace and prosperity will prevail and people will rapidly join the main stream along with enjoying the fruits of development.

- Now I would like to also mention the ongoing Security related Assistance given to the State Governments by the Government of India. Under this, 118 Battalions of CAPF have been deployed in the States. Besides, States have been given the sanction for IR Battalions and SIRB to strengthen the security Apparatus of the States. 10 CoBRA Battalions have been deployed, in addition to handle this kind of LWE issues.

- In the last few years, the Ministry of Home Affairs has assisted the States through various schemes for Capacity Building. Under the SRE Scheme, reimbursement of security related expenses, such as ex-gratia, transportation, training, honorarium for SPOs etc, was done by the Central Government in 106 districts of 10 States. In the financial year 2016-17, the Home Ministry has reimbursed Rs 210 crore.

- Under the Special Infrastructure Scheme, 122.13 crores was given to strengthen the special forces of 6 States. Apart from this, a sum of 24 crores was provided for setting up 16 CIAT schools in 6 States. More than 4000 police personnel are being trained every year by Army and Greyhounds.

- Similarly, under the Fortified Police Station Scheme, the Central Government has made available Rs. 624 crores to the States for the construction of 400 Fortified Police Stations in 10 States.

- LWE Affected States have been sanctioned 56 IRB and 10 SIRB. States have been given these sanctions to increase their force resources. The SIRB is a major step towards providing security for the State's infrastructure projects, especially in these sensitive areas. But now 20 IR Battalion and 06 SIRB are yet to be raised with both the security and engineering components. In addition, engineering components of 02 SIRBs are pending.

- The Home Ministry has provided support to security forces for other facilities such as Helicopters, UAVs etc. From time to time, the amount required for the CRPF is being provided by the GOI for the basic facilities, due to lack of resources of the State Governments.

- We assure the States that we will continue to provide full support to them for their capacity building and training needs. Intelligence sharing and deployment of Central security forces will continue as per requirement. But the States must take initiative to conduct Operations and use Resources optimally.

- I have full confidence that today's deliberations will be fruitful and we will be able to realize the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister of building a Left Wing Extremism free India.”

 

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KSD/NK/PK