Monday, September 4 2006 16:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will return to his Independence Day theme Tuesday (Sept 5, 2006) when he urges chief ministers to raise resources and technologies to improve public security vis-à-vis Maoism and terrorism.

In his address to chief ministers, in the wake of the July 11 Mumbai train bombings and a spate of Maoist killings, Singh is expected to emphasize the need to tackle the socio-economic conditions that lie at the root of Maoism.

Many officials admit that the fruits of many of the programmes meant to bail out the poor rarely reach the intended beneficiaries.

Cross-border terrorism and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and militancy in the northeast will also figure in Tuesday's deliberations with chief ministers.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, the Cabinet Committee on Security has decided to employ new measures to safeguard nuclear installations, dams and other vital facilities from possible terror attacks.

Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, at a meeting here last week, instructed chief secretaries and police chiefs of 13 Maoist-affected states to adopt a pro-active approach to deal with the guerrillas.

The central government has also allowed the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Chhattisgarh for intelligence gathering.

In view of the Mumbai bombings that killed nearly 200 people and the unrelenting Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh, the prime minister has repeatedly stressed the need to gear up the state machinery to meet internal security challenges.

In his interaction with chief secretaries last month, Singh virtually took them to task insisting that state Governments should utilize all technologies and trained manpower to meet the challenges of terrorism and Maoism.

Mincing no words, Singh said, "It is the primary responsibility of the state to maintain public order and ensure the safety of its citizens. All other responsibilities come subsequently.

"Business cannot be carried on as usual. We must recognise that past responses are inadequate in dealing with these problems, which are of a different intensity, magnitude, scale and scope," he said.

Even during his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the prime minister highlighted the threats to internal security from terrorism and Maoism in many parts of the country.

During his last interaction with chief ministers in April, Singh termed the Maoist rebellion as the single biggest internal security challenge faced by the country and pointed out that the strategy to counter it would have to be based on an effective response and a focus on reducing underdevelopment.

The strategy unveiled by him was to be to walk on two legs to have an effective police response while at the same time focusing on reducing the sense of deprivation and alienation.

Although Maoists have not realised their aim of creating a red corridor from Nepal to Andhra Pradesh, their expansion in recent years has been impressive.

Statistics show Maoist violence has cast a shadow over almost a third of the states, with rebels extending their influence from 55 districts in nine states in 2003 to 170 districts in 15 states in 2006.

The Maoists damaged property worth Rs.110 million ($2.5 million) in nine states and killed 301 people and 91 security personnel in 2005. Maximum damage was inflicted in Chhattisgarh, where 190 people were killed and property worth Rs.90 million was damaged.