By IANS,
Kolkata : The West Bengal government has started distributing ration cards for below poverty line families as part of implementing the special development package in the states’ three Maoist hit western districts from Independence Day, a senior official said Monday.
Chief Secretary Ardhendhu Sen said: “We have distributed 10,000 ration cards to tribal families that are below the poverty line in the Nayagram, Lalgarh and Jhargram areas of West Midnapore. This is part of a drive that involves the distribution of 1.6 lakh extra ration cards over the coming month in the region.”
Bankura and Purulia are the other two districts where the left wing ultras have been active for quite some time.
The special development package was announced by the state government in June, upon the completion of one year of the joint operation by security forces to flush out Maoists and activists of the pro-Maoist group – Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) from Lalgarh and its adjoining areas.
Apart from the distribution of ration cards, the package includes schemes for socio-economic development of the region such as funds for the up gradation of educational institutions and improving civic amenities. Sen said the government’s experience since the initiation of operations had been “mixed.”
“We have taken a lot of beating and lost a lot of men, but we have been able to arrest many of the active squad members of the Maoists. We have arrested several of the middle level leaders. The top leadership has not yet been arrested, but efforts are on to completely deactivate the Maoist machinery in our state,” he said.
Speaking on the security situation in the state at an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the chief secretary said the resources will have to be utilised to build a modern police force.
“We had asked the 13th Finance Commission for a sum of Rs.260 crore to upgrade the training facilities for the police,” he said adding that the Finance Commission had granted the money.
Sen also said that the government had received a special input about a possible terror strike on Independence Day which had not been made public to prevent a panic situation. However, the day had passed off without incident.
An improvement in relations with Bangladesh has helped the government in containing the spread of separatist movements in the state’s northern districts, but the problem of “a highly porous border” was a matter of security concern, he said.