Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik participates in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Chief Ministers of ten Naxal-hit states. (Photo | PTI)
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik participates in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Chief Ministers of ten Naxal-hit states. (Photo | PTI)

Conduct study on success of children from Naxal-hit areas: Odisha CM to Centre

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said that from 70 per cent of the state's 30 districts being hit during the peak of Naxal activities, Odisha now hardly has parts of three districts affected by it.

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday requested the Centre to conduct a study on how many children from the left-wing extremism (LWE) affected areas across the country are getting into national level examinations like NEET, IIT and JEE.

Addressing the meeting of chief ministers of 10 LWE affected states by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at New Delhi, the Chief Minister said that if the country’s systems continue to bypass them it is not going to help the cause of the people of the LWE affected areas.

Stating that LWE still remains a critical internal challenge for the nation, the Chief Minister gave five proposals for the development of the regions affected by it including the expansion of NH 326 from Jeypore to Motu via Malkangiri up to Bhadrachalam.

"This will provide a parallel road for traffic from eastern India, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states to the south especially Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This corridor in addition to reducing the travelling time substantially will also provide huge economic impetus to this region," he added.

Pointing out that LWE affected districts in the state are not part of the railway network, the Chief Minister said the Railway Ministry and Odisha Government are already constructing two legs, from Jeypore to Nabarangpur and Jeypore to Malkangiri, through cost-sharing.

The missing part between Malkangiri to Bhadrachalam of 153 kilometres and Nabarangpur to Junagarh of 118 kilometres can provide a very viable alternative path to the trunk routes of railway, he said, adding this will have a huge impact on the economic growth of these areas.

Naveen Patnaik also drew attention to the lack of mobile connectivity in many parts of LWE affected areas. Requesting the Centre to provide mobile connectivity to areas of southern and western Odisha, he said, there are 6,278 villages in Odisha without any mobile access or connectivity, the largest number in the country.

He said that 2000 more mobile base stations will be required to provide coverage to uncovered villages.

Thanking the union home ministry for sanctioning 488 mobile towers for Odisha recently, the Chief Minister said most of the interiors depend on mobile connectivity and internet for banking, education and delivery of all government services.

“Today, the basic need, therefore, is of 4-G mobile base stations at all places. It is, therefore, required to upgrade the 2-G base stations also, erected earlier.,” he said.

The Chief Minister urged the Centre to take expeditious steps to set up banks in these areas in a time frame of one year for which the government will provide land and infrastructure free of cost.

Even as the country has been fighting a battle against Covid-19 for the past two years, Patnaik said, Odisha sustained its efforts to curb LWE activities and had substantial success as well.

“From 70 per cent of the districts affected during the peak, now we have hardly parts of three districts affected by LWE,” he said, adding accessibility and in turn, economic prosperity is the biggest anti-LWE measure that should be aimed for on a big scale.

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