Saturday, September 2 2006 11:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Having identified Naxalism as the country's single biggest internal security challenge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will chair a meeting of chief ministers of states affected by Maoist violence here on Tuesday (Sept 5, 2006).

The meeting on internal security comes days after Home Secretary V K Duggal reviewed the situation at a high-level meeting of chief secretaries and police chiefs of the 13 affected states.

During his interaction with chief ministers earlier this year, the Prime Minster had observed that it would not be an exaggeration to say the problem of Naxalism was the single biggest internal security challenge faced by the country.

He had suggested the setting up of joint unified commands in areas hit by Naxalism and dedicated units of "Grey Hounds' on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh to tackle the problem, besides laying emphasis on the socio-economic development of the areas dominated by Maoists.

At the meeting of the Coordination Centre on Naxalism here on Wednesday, the Centre promised to adopt a pro-active approach to deal with the problem and offered air support to states for transporting security forces. It also allowed the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Chhattisgarh for intelligence gathering.



With intelligence agencies uncovering plots by terrorists to target the country's strategic and vital assets, the Cabinet Committee on Security recently decided to frame new steps to protect nuclear installations, dams and other vital facilities.