Waive charges for central forces: Orissa CM

Bhubaneswar, Feb 11 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday urged the central government to waive off Rs.1,450.29 crore charged for the deployment of central forces in the Maoist-affected areas of the state.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Patnaik said it is the responsibility of both the Centre and the states to fight left-wing extremism in various parts of the country, including Odisha, by pooling their resources.

"The claim of Rs.1,450.29 crore of the union government towards deployment of central forces appears to be quite unreasonable.

"In the present internal security scenario, joint and coordinated operations of state and central security forces are the need of the hour...," the chief minister said.

Maintaining that deployment of central forces is essential to supplement the efforts of the state police to counter the Maoists who hold sway in many states, Patnaik said the Odisha government had also recruited, trained and deployed a large number of police personnel for anti-Maoist operations by bearing the huge expenditure from the state exchequer.