NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (IANS): Emphasising that the road ahead to securing India was hard and there was a lot to achieve, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said multiple threats such as Left-wing extremism and insurgencies in the North-east and Jammu and Kashmir required a firm hand to put down.
"Hostile groups and elements operate from across the border to perpetrate terrorist acts in our country. The State of Jammu and Kashmir bears the brunt of the acts of these groups. There is insurgency and violence in the North-east. Many States are affected by Left-wing extremism, which I have in the past referred to as the greatest threat to our internal security," said Manmohan Singh, inaugurating the Internal Security Conclave of Chief Ministers here.
"There are also those trying to divide our society on communal and regional lines. Each one of these threats requires a strong effort, determination, hard work and continuous vigilance to tackle. These threats to our society, to our polity and our country constitute a challenge that we must and we shall meet effectively at all costs," he said.
Addressing Chief Ministers on internal security for the third time after the 26/11 terror strikes, Manmohan Singh lamented that policing was not being given due attention by States, and talked of how infiltration levels have increased in Jammu and Kashmir, the need to strengthen coastal security and the menace of counterfeit currency notes.
"The problems of inadequate number of policemen and deficiency in training of the police personnel have been underlined time and again. Unfortunately, there has not been adequate progress in these areas," he said.
The figures collected by the Ministry of Home Affairs show that at the end of September 2009, about 394,000 of the sanctioned posts in the state and union territory police forces were lying vacant. This constitutes a large proportion - about 20 percent - of the total sanctioned strength.
According to Home Ministry figures, all States and Union Territories had a sanctioned strength of 1,746,215 policemen as on January 1, 2008, and against that number, only 1,478,888 policemen were in place.
The Prime Minister pointed out that though there had been a marked decline in violence levels in Jammu and Kashmir, the infiltration levels had gone up.
"As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, there has been a marked decline in the number of terrorist incidents from 2008 to 2009. But, infiltration levels have shown an increase. Recently there have been some incidents which are disturbing," he said.
Dwelling at length on the Maoist violence affecting vast swathes of six States, Manmohan Singh said the country's response must be measured to avoid alienating people, especially those in the tribal areas.
"The number of incidents related to Left-wing extremism has, however, increased in the same period, as has the number of civilians and security personnel killed in these incidents. This is worrisome. The extremists continue to target vital installations and kill innocent civilians in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal," he said.
"As I have said earlier, our response to Left-wing extremism must be calibrated to avoid alienating our people, especially those in the tribal areas. It must also go hand in hand with social and economic development of areas affected by Left-wing extremism, bringing them into the mainstream of national progress."
Last year, there were 1,125 deaths due to Maoist extremism - 591 civilians, 317 security personnel and 217 militants. This is far more than the 721 deaths in 2008, and the toll of 696 in 2007.
The prime minister stressed that fake Indian currency notes were being printed and smuggled into India from outside and this could have implications for the economy.
"There is obviously a need for a coordinated approach by the central and state agencies to tackle this menace; which has serious implications for our economy. In some instances of recovery of fake currency, especially by banks, there has been a reluctance (by State governments) to register the First Information Report. This has to be avoided and all such cases must be thoroughly investigated," he said.
