Chhattisgarh Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to increase the Centre’s share in the Police Modernisation Fund (PMF), reminding him of the state’s internecine war with the Left-wing extremism since its inception on November 1, 2000.
Sahu drew Shah’s attention to the expansion of the Chhattisgarh Police since the new state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh (MP) two decades ago and 14 of its 27 districts come under the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme.
Sahu wrote to Shah on Wednesday and cited facts and figures to underscore a gradual decline in the Centre’s share in PMF.
In 2013-14, the funds sanctioned for the modernisation of Chhattisgarh Police were Rs 56 crore, but the requirement fell short by Rs 20 crore, the state home minister’s letter stated.
“There has been gradual deduction of allocation under PMF for the state even though Chhattisgarh is fighting the Communist Party of India (CPI)-(Maoist) menace for several years. The trend is disconcerting and I am urging you to increase the Central government’s share in PMF,” he wrote.
Sahu further stated that Chhattisgarh’s PMF share has been decreased, despite the fact that 14 of the 27 districts in the districts are LWE-affected and fall under the MHA’s SRE scheme.
“ Out of these 14 districts, eight districts are severely Maoist affected and we urgently need funds for police modernisation in these areas,” the letter stated.
Sahu also cited that the strength of the Chhattisgarh Police has increased from 22,520 to 75,678 personnel since its formation and during this period, 11 new revenue districts were created and the number of police stations has also gone up from 293 to 467.
“Besides the Special Task Force (STF), Chhattisgarh has 22 armed battalions, a special information branch unit and training schools such as Police Academy at Chandrakhuri and Counter-Terrorism and Jungle Warfare (CTJW) College at Kanker. At present, a total of 45 battalions of paramilitary forces are deployed in the state to fight the Maoists,” he added.
