More central funds to counter Naxals

BHUBANESWAR: With the increase in activities of Left-wing extremists (LWEs) in the State, more funds will be at the disposal of the Government to counter them. The Centre recently included four more districts from the State in the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had been demanding inclusion of Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi districts in the SRE scheme for the last two years. The districts will receive funds from 2012-13. With this out of the 30 districts, Odisha will receive SRE grant support for 19 districts this fiscal.  The State Government in the beginning of the financial year sends the Annual Action Plan (AAP) for the SRE districts. The Government makes a projection of expenditure to be taken up in various sectors in it.  During 2010-11, the State Government submitted the AAP of ` 145 crore for 15 districts keeping in view the expenditure for erecting facilities for the five battalions of Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs) deployed in Koraput and Malkangiri districts. The State Government drew up the AAP of ` 90 crore for 2011-12 and this year it has hiked funding for SRE districts to ` 127 crore. These expenditures include fortifying police stations and outposts with fencing and boundary walls in Maoist-affected areas, erecting barracks for paramilitary forces, funding joint operations, expenditure on chopper, vehicle fuel, community policing, insurance expenditure and payment of ex gratia for civilians killed by the rebels.  In the first phase, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj were in the SRE scheme. Centre has also included 16 more districts under the SRE all over the country. These include three districts in Jharkhand, four in Chhattisgarh, seven in Bihar and one  in West Bengal. While in other Central Plan, the Centre releases funds on production of utilisation certificates, SRE scheme funds are reimbursed on presentation of completion certificates.