The arduous and tough India-China border extending over 4,056 Km has its complexities and goes far beyond the two capitals of Delhi and Beijing. The book – India China Borderlands : Conversations beyond the Centre – authored by Nimmi Kurian of the Centre for Policy Research seeks to put in perspective Sino-Indian relations at the subregional level. 

She engages in a critical comparative analysis of the developmental thrust that India’s Northeast and China’s western border regions are witnessing under the rubric of Look East Policy and the Western Development strategy. 

The book revolves on border studies along with comparative regionalism in international relations. One of the handicaps is that border studies are rare in this country. The endeavour is to introduce a borderlands perspective. 

Since 1999 Kurian has been involved in a track II initiative to promote subregional cooperation between India’s Northeast, China’s Southwest, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The border regions are steeped in romanticism of the Silk Road lore. If anything it has been a rich slice of economic and cultural history, of sinuous, well beaten tracks that carried goods, peoples, ideas, customs, religions and languages; and of the way it has shaped the daily lives of the people who live across these borders binding them together as one unit. 

An interesting policy shift currently underway in both India and China could offer the potential for just such an alternative vision. The state is today stepping into its periphery armed with a profoundly new discourse of prosperity and an even more formidable arsenal of resources. 

Both Northeast India and Western China are seeing a huge infusion of funds from their respective central governments. The Northeast vision document 2020 prepared under the auspices of the Northeast Council in 2008 sets itself the objective of closing the gap between the region and the rest of the country along with restoring the Northeast to a position of ‘national economic 

eminence’. 

There are compelling reasons for examining the immediate subregion of India and China, a neighbourhood they both share and an area of the world little known or studied. The northeastern region of India has 4500 Km of international borders with only a 22 Km link to the Indian mainland through Siliguri, West Bengal. 

The eight states that constitute Northeastern India account for 7.9 per cent of the geographical area of the country, with a population of 44 million that is only 3.65 per cent of the country’s population. The region is home to immense ethnic diversity with an estimated 160 Scheduled tribes and over 400 tribal and subtribal groupings. 

China’s western region too has a high degree of ethnic diversity where many of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minority groups besides the dominant Han ethnic group live. Ethnic minorities are largely concentrated  in 12 western provinces particularly the five autonomous provinces of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Ningxia and Guangxi. 

It is essential to first locate the subregion in the national narrative, an exercise likely to be fraught with controversies. Order and stability concerns have always ranked high in the security calculus of the decision makers with separatist movements, protests and bouts of violence being endemic features. 

There are an estimated 79 active armed insurgent groups in the Northeast and transborder linkages among these groups have compounded security challenges facing the Indian state. 

The fear of external forces has been a source of constant worry for Beijing too, most evident in the aftermath of the violent protests in Lhasa in 2008 and in Urumqi in 2009. 

The external factor is particularly a salient point for India and China given their long territorial borders. There is tension at the heart of the borderlands that needs to be pushed and foregrounded into any moves to rethink borders as bridges. The problem is that any new discourse on rethinking borders is by and large foisted on an existing narrative of anxiety and insecurity. 

A remapping of the border region as a gateway will be incomplete without first critically engaging with the extant discourse. If these fractured territories are to be restored, creative ways of thinking out of the territorial trap will have to be a first. 

The manner in which India and China address this central tension will be critical to their capacity to start a conversation of change on the borders as well as with each other. Far from being the periphery, Borderlands are uniquely positioned at the intersection of national and cultural crossroads and bring several crossover disciplinary and policy insights. If these are dismissed as illegal or worse and irrelevant, such rich narratives would have no hope of finding entry points into the mainstream discourse. Border communities have to be at the centre of any new rethinking on borderlands. 

Without connecting with the lives of the people who inhabit these spaces, theoritical agendas will remain both unimaginative and reiterative. Asia is said to be ‘ripe for rivalry’ and conflict presumed to be endemic to the region on account of its legacy of unresolved disputes, weak institutional structures, militarisation and nascent state building. 

The borderlands are seen as yet another theatre of growing strategic rivalry between India and China with ethnic insurgencies potentially becoming a part of a new ‘Great Game’ between the two countries. The larger question is whether India’s democratic political alternative to the Chinese model has been a divisive one. 

But a far more fraught issue has been the concern over India as a strategic counterweight to China. 

India’s increasing engagement with the East and Southeast Asia and the implications of this strategic expansion for its national strategy are strong related concerns from China’s point of view. India’s growing role beyond South Asia is clearly perceived by many in China’s strategic community as aimed at curbing China’s role and influence in the region. By and large geo-economic feel good narrative of prosperity, the Indian China border region has tended to remain suspended in a sort of time warp.

The critical role that borders can play in communication, stemming naturally from their being points of contact between different systems, has not been apparent in either discourse or practice in the Indian-China context. 

The book has made a case for a conceptual leap from borders to borderlands and has argued that there is a strong spatial logic which must constitute the core of any conception of subregional cooperation in the region. India and China will have major stakes in how the region is imagined and the kind of order that is likely to emerge. 

Fragmented landscapes provide a wake up call for Indian and Chinese scholars. In creatively defining the signature slogan of borders as gateways will ultimately be a call for India and China to take not just as polities but also as societies. 

To realise such a vision Delhi and Beijing must first quit playing ventriloquist and recognise the ability of the borderlands to speak for itself

The Centre must show the iron will to resolutely deal with naxal terror. Union Home minister Rajnath Singh affirmed that Left Wing Extremism will be dealt a crippling blow to avenge their attack. 

Simultaneously, a detailed review of the procedures adopted so far as well as evolving fresh guidelines will be undertaken soon so that they are not caught unawares when an ambush takes place. 

Reports said some of the bodies of the CRPF men were found mutilated. For the families of the 26 Central Reserve Police Force men killed by the extremists in Sukma, Chattisgarh, the pain is not only acute but debilitating. 

CRPF men are dying across the country in the ‘red corridor’ in five states apart from those being posted in J&K as well as the Northeast. The loss in Sukma brings to the fore yet again the abject failure of successive governments to evolve an efficient policy in tackling the Maoist menace rearing its ugly head at regular intervals taking a heavy toll of police personnel. Survivors of the current attack who had served in J&K found that their posting in the sensitive border state was better than that in Chhattisgarh. They drew pointed attention to the lack of intelligence and the poor roads particularly in the thickly wooded zones. 

Amid the refrain and condemnation about the cold blooded murder of the cops, there is invariably the demand that the Army be called in to tackle the situation.

From all accounts this is a replay of the attack in April 2010 when the rebels attacked and killed 75 CRPF men who had taken a break as evidenced in the present instance as well. The discriminating believe that southern Chhattisgarh is today the most heavily patrolled place in the country barring J&K. 

The beleaguered Maoists have also lost several hundreds of their cadre as well as leaders over the years. In a fresh strategy Maoists have decided to use hundreds of their cadre for operations aimed at inflicting heavy casualties along with gathering weapons and ammunition. The Maoists want to strengthen themselves by laying siege to new areas to relieve the pressure faced by them. 

The problem in Chhattisgarh pertain to lack of coordination between the paramilitary organisation and the state police. At the time of the Sukma attack earlier this week on April 25, the CRPF was without a chief for nearly two months. It got a chief two days after the Sukhma tragedy when a 1983 batch IPS officer 

Rajiv Raj Bhatnagar was made its DG. 

Exploitation of tribals by Maoists in various ways like providing food and compelling them to act as informants. They have also been used as human shields during police operations. There are instances of tribal children being inducted by Left Wing Extremists in Chattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand known as 

‘Bal Dasta’ or ‘Bal Sangham’. 

As evidenced during the stewardship of undivided Andhra Pradesh by the late chief minister Y Rajasekhar Reddy or YSR, a targetted force snuffed out the Maoist problem by sustained development particularly in areas where the rebels had been driven out. The measures encompassed building roads, police stations, schools and healthcare centres which became part of the strategy of defeating Left Wing Extremism. 

If security forces attack ordinary villages they will be playing into the hands of the Maoists. The state needs to secure law and order along with ensuring justice to all.

(T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. Views are personal.) 

An estimated 10 million children in India still miss out on full vaccinations every year. Weak health systems, poverty and social inequities also mean that large number of children under five are still not reached with life-saving vaccines.

Globally, access to immunisation has led to a dramatic decrease in deaths of children under-five years from vaccine-preventable diseases. Access to immunisation has led to a dramatic decrease in deaths of children. Between 2000 and 2015, worldwide under-five deaths due to measles declined by 85 per cent and those due to neonatal tetanus by 83 per cent, latest figures released by UNICEF to mark the Immunisation Week suggest. 

In India, the under-five mortality stands at 1.11 million deaths per year with pneumonia accounting for 13 per cent of the total under-five deaths and diarrhoea contributing to approximately 10 per cent of the under-five mortality. 

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reached out to almost half of the world’s children under the age of 5 years in 2016, the latest figures suggest. It procured 2.5 billion doses of vaccines to children in nearly 100 countries last year making it the largest buyer of vaccines for children in the world. 

Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the three remaining polio-endemic countries, each received more doses of vaccines than any other country, with almost 450 million doses of vaccines procured to children in Nigeria, 395 million in Pakistan and over 150 million in Afghanistan. UNICEF is the lead procurement agency for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

“The Government of India has demonstrated strong and effective leadership in mobilizing partners for collectively addressing maternal and child health. UNICEF is committed to working together with the Government of India and other development partners, to ensure that we  close the immunity gaps in every state, in every district and in every community, so that all boys and girls are protected  life-long  from measles, rubella, and other vaccine preventable diseases,” said Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF India Representative.

Inequalities persist between rich and poor children. In countries where 80 per cent of the world’s under-five child deaths occur, over half of the poorest children are not fully vaccinated. Globally, the poorest children are nearly twice as likely to die before the age of five as compared to the richest.

“All children, no matter where they live or what their circumstances have the right to survive and thrive, safe from deadly diseases,” said Dr. Robin Nandy, Chief of Immunization at UNICEF headquarters, “Since 1990, immunization has been a major reason for the substantial drop in child mortality, but despite this progress, 1.5 million children still die from vaccine preventable diseases every year.’’

“In addition to children living in rural communities where access to services is limited, more and more children living in overcrowded cities and slum dwellings are also missing out on vital vaccinations,” said Mr Nandy. “Overcrowding, poverty, poor hygiene and sanitation as well as inadequate nutrition and health care increase the risk of diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles in these communities; diseases that are easily preventable with vaccines.”

By 2030, an estimated 1 in 4 people will live in urban poor communities, mainly in Africa and Asia, meaning the focus and investment of immunization services must be tailored to the specific needs of these communities and children, UNICEF said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said called upon countries to invest in and harness the latest technological advances to reduce malaria burden, particularly in the nations with a high burden of disease which includes India. 

New vector control interventions, improved diagnostics and new anti-malarial medicines all hold out the prospect of accelerated progress. Meeting the Region-wide target to eliminate malaria by 2030 requires agile thinking and a willingness to be bold, meaning all avenues must be explored, and all effective tools embraced. This is particularly important given the threat posed by multi-drug and insecticide resistance, the WHO has said ahead of the World Malaria Day..

The world has made significant progress in reducing malaria’s deadly burden. Between 2000 and 2015 the incidence rate of malaria is estimated to have decreased by 37%. Malaria mortality was slashed by 60%, with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halting and reversing malaria incidence convincingly met.

The South-East Asia Region is part of this story. The Region reached the malaria-related MDG targets. More recently, between 2010 and 2015 it cut case incidence by an estimated 54% and the malaria mortality rate by an estimated 46%. In 2015 and 2016 respectively, Maldives and Sri Lanka were certified malaria-free – a stunning achievement by any standard. But further progress must be forged, says Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, South East Asia Region, WHO. 

Malaria remains endemic in nine of the Region’s 11 countries. Multi-drug resistance – including to artemisinin-based combination therapies – is an ever-present threat, as is resistance of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes to insecticides. Across the Region, domestic funding for malaria prevention and control has declined, even as the need for more innovative and localized solutions has increased. Renewed focus is needed.  

India has a high burden of malaria with Odisha accounting for about 38% of malaria cases and 28% malaria deaths in 2015. At present, the estimated population at a high risk of malaria is 24 million. Malaria affects 22 districts of the total 30 districts of the State.

As the theme of this year’s World Malaria Day emphasizes, enhancing prevention is a critical means of closing the gap and ending malaria for good. Though policy must always respond to local needs, there are powerful strategies that can accelerate gains, Ms Khetrapal Singh says.

Key among them is vector control. By controlling the mosquitoes that transmit malaria we can significantly diminish malaria transmission and hence disease burden. Two highly effective ways to do this is by ensuring affected communities have access to long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets, and by carrying out indoor residual spraying. In 2015 alone indoor residual spraying was estimated to protect 106 million people worldwide, including upwards of 41 million in India.    
 
Ensuring these tools reach vulnerable groups is essential. Malaria transmission in the Region occurs primarily among hard-to-reach, often disadvantaged or neglected communities, including tribal and migrant or mobile populations. These communities must be empowered to act, and must be fully engaged in programme implementation. Even within these communities, special efforts must be made to protect pregnant women and children under five years of age. There are a number of strategies that can do this and which antenatal services in high-risk areas should be in a position to deploy, the WHO has said.

The South-East Asia Region has shown what it can achieve. A malaria-free Region is possible. Through strong political commitment, integrated strategies aimed at reaching the unreached, and a willingness to harness the power of cutting-edge tools, malaria’s centuries-long burden can be lifted, believes Ms Khetrapal Singh. 

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 52^nd Jnanpith Award on Prof. Sankha Ghosh on Thursday. 

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that a poet and critique par excellence, a teacher of reputation, a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award, way back in 1977, Padma Bhushan Prof. Sankha Ghosh is indeed the most deserving recipient of this award.

A professor of Bengali and an authority in his own right on the works of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Prof. Sankha Ghosh represents the fluid brilliance that characterizes India’s multifarious literary genius.  It is indeed an example of his brilliant fluidity that an author who strove to master Bengali academically, expressed himself in perhaps the most difficult literary genre of poetry.

The President said that in conferring the award on Prof. Sankha Ghosh the selection board noted that his poetic idiom and experiments with various poetic forms mark his greatness as a creative talent. They also observed that Prof. Ghosh’s poetry, while conveying messages, have remained free from polemics. One look at his works, be it Adim Lata- Gulmomay, Murkho Baro Samajik Noy or Baborer Prarthana, to name a few, and one would be left in no doubt about every word of the observations mentioned by the selection board to be to the point and correct.

The President said an ardent writer of Bengali poetry, his literary works reflect a rare poetic style that encompasses not only a lyrical style but also a deep reflection of the social milieu. His poetry often takes on superficiality in our society and are indeed a candid commentary on contemporary issues. He said that he was sure that as a teacher, Prof. Ghosh would have positively influenced the impressionable minds of his students, as much as enriching the readers of his literary works.

PM Modi, launched UDAN – the Regional Connectivity Scheme for civil aviation, from Shimla Airport. Under this scheme, flights have begun today from Shimla, Nanded and Kadapa Airports. 

While addressing he said the lives of the middle class are being transformed, and their aspirations are rising. He said that given the right chance, they can do wonders. He added that the aviation sector in India is filled with opportunity. Mentioning the scheme name – UDAN – Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik – he said that aviation was once considered the domain of a select few, but that has changed now. He said that new civil aviation policy marks an opportunity to cater to the aspirations of the people of India. Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are becoming growth engines, and enhanced aviation connectivity between them will be beneficial. He said the UDAN scheme will help the tourism sector in Himachal Pradesh to get a boost.

The Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Virbhadra Singh and the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri R.N. Choubey were also present during the launch.

NEW DELHI: Veteran Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna who played daring roles on the screen lost his valiant fight against cancer and breathed his last in a Mumbai hospital on Thursday. He was 70.
As one who began his career in late 70s depicting roles of villains and dacoits in a number of hit Hindi movies, he effortlessly switched over to playing leading roles and rose to new heights in his career in Bollywood.It was Sunil Dutt who picked him up to play a supporting role in his film “Man Ka Meet” in 1968. The movie turned out to be a hit and there was no looking back for Vinod Khanna. 
Born on October 6, 1946 in Peshawar, now in Pakistan, Vinod Khanna completed his education in Mumbai and met veteran actor Sunil Dutt in a party. Incidentally, both Sunil Dutt and Vinod Khanna also switched over to politics, While Mr. Dutt became a Congress Lok Sabha member from Mumbai, Vinod Khanna represented Gurdaspur in Punjab in the Lok Sabha for the BJP. He had also won the 2014 general polls from the same seat for the party. 
In his career on the silver screen, he shared space with superstar Amitabh Bachchan but stood his ground and carved out his own identity as an actor who never overplayed his roles. There was a certain statement of underplay in his acting which became his style as well. At the height of his career in Bollywood, Vinod Khanna took a break to join Osho in his ashram in Pune and donned saffron robes for quite some time. 
His roles in hit movies like “Aan Milo Sajna”, “Mera Gaon, Mera Desh” , “Saccha Jhoota” and off-beat film “Mere Apne” were greatly appreciated by the film buffs. Of late, he was seen in Salman Khan starrer  “Dabang”. He is survived by his wife Kavita and sons Akshay and Rahul.

Just a day before this attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Raman Singh had said that more than 20,000 youth from the Naxal-affected regions of the State were being trained in skill development. 

Speaking at the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister had said that his government was working on a rapid action plan to increase mobile and internet connectivity in remote tribal areas.

He said Chhattisgarh was the first state to make legislation and give right to skill development for youths. Taking the skill enhancement programme to a different level, the government started livelihood colleges in every district. The State government was spending over Rs 400 crore from its budget annually on skill development. He suggested that an arrangement should be made by sector skill council to provide training of evaluators and trainers.

For effective implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Mr Singh said Chhattisgarh would become an open defecation free state by October 2, 2018. The State government has worked on the strategy of providing encouragement amount to the beneficiaries only after three months of toilet construction. Drawing attention towards the unused toilets, the Chief Minister suggested that a proposal to make unused toilet usable should be sanctioned.

He said that under the vision document 2030, the State government was working on achieving five targets. The state is focusing on removal of poverty, strengthening the panchayats, providing nutrition, health facilities, quality education, safe drinking water and strengthening infrastructure.

Supporting GST, the Chief Minister said his government was moving fast towards its implementation. He suggested that e-portal by GSTN should be made easy and convenient for businessmen. He said that module of the form filled by businessmen should be provided to them in advance so that they get used to the new system.

On digital India, the Chief Minister said that the state has created a digital army of about 16 lakh people, who make the citizens aware about digitalization and cashless transactions. He said that more than 10 lakh cc cards have been distributed among the farmers and 10 thousand merchants have been brought on board UPI based digital payment app BHIM and Aadhar based digital payment system. Under SKY scheme 1700 towers would be set up in rural areas and 45 lakh people will be distributed smart phones.  He said to encourage digital payment in rural areas regional rural banks should be given mobile and internet banking permission by the RBI.

The people in the national capital have taken strong exception to the arrogance of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal by unequivocally rejecting his Aam Aadmi party in the election to the three civic bodies in the city. 

This paved the way for the BJP to win overwhelmingly for the third consecutive time. The lotus party has beaten the incumbency factor by fielding new candidates and sealing AAP’s fate. There is no doubt that this is a vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is the face of the BJP. 

Rejecting the gimmicks of Kejriwal, the electorate ensured that the AAP supremo gets a wake up call by hitting the ground with a nasty thud. The AAP is staring at the meltdown in barely two years after having won the 70-member Delhi Assembly with a landslide of 67 seats in 2015. The remaining three seats went to the BJP.

Kejriwal made matters worse by continuing his tirade about EVMs being rigged. Further, he was audacious that the people of Delhi must accept responsibility for any spread of diseases by re-electing the BJP to the civic bodies where they had failed to deliver. 

Except for the reverses in Delhi and the battleground state of Bihar in the Hindi heartland, Modi has been highly successful in garnering votes and leading the Lotus party to victory as evidenced with the recent mind boggling triumph in the critical state of Uttar Pradesh. 

The MCD polls did not buck that trend coupled with the sensex touching an all time high. Modi’s record in winning elections since he became Prime Minister in May 2014 has been remarkable so far. 

On the other hand the message is unambiguous for Kejriwal that he should come down from his high horse, do some serious introspection and start delivering on the multitude of promises or take the highway to political oblivion. 

Plagued by infighting in both the AAP and the Congress, their leaders who were ignored switched sides by joining the BJP which benefitted the saffron brigade. The AAP finished a poor second and the Congress came last in third place. 

That inevitably led to a spate of resignations accepting responsibility for the defeat. The Congress continues to be at the receiving end of the saffron brigade at the hustings though its vote share in Delhi has risen from nine per cent in 2014 to about 22 per cent. 

Having been Delhi chief minister for three consecutive terms, Shiela Dixit was not even invited to campaign in Delhi. She attributed the party’s rout to poor planning and lack lustre campaigning. 

Kejriwal is himself to blame for his overarching approach of seeking to upset the Congress applecart in Punjab where the AAP came a cropper, not to speak of the party’s pathetic performance in Goa. The coterie around him has been the spoilers. It is surprising that Kejriwal refused to read the writing on the wall after the drubbing in Rajouri Garden recently. 

The AAP has got a lashing in the civic body polls as it just glossed over the very issues that it brought to the fore which catapulted it to power in Delhi. In the last four elections held in the national capital since 2013, there have been massive vote swings each of which have been different from the last one. 

The massive vote swing against the AAP this time was such that its vote share dipped to 26 per cent, nearly half of what it got in 2015 when it won hands down.   

It has become imperative for the AAP and in particular Kejriwal to stop blaming the EVMs, accept defeat graciously and focus on governance. He has suddenly woken up to the reality that he has to work in tandem with the civic bodies for the disposal of garbage as well as a host of other issues afflicting Delhi. These include cleaning the drains along with ensuring there is no backflow in the sewers in the monsoon leading to contamination of drinking water. 

All this while since he became chief minister, Kejriwal refused to have a single meeting with any of the civic bodies. There is no option for him but to end the fued with the BJP for the betterment of Delhi.  

His ambitions of becoming a national alternative failing to take off, Kejriwal must accept responsibility for not only hurting the interests of the AAP but posing a threat to the existence of the fledgling party itself. If those in the AAP do some sincere soul searching, they will find the answers to the debacle that was staring everyone in the face.

(T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. Views are personal.) 

NEW DELHI: Facing criticism in the wake of Sukma ambush in Chhattisgarh in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed by well-armed Maoist cadres, the Centre on Thursday asserted that the policy of security along with development has been successful and brought down the violence figures in Chhattisgarh. 
In a clarification, Union Home Ministry said that there has been 7% decline in overall violence incidents since 2013. The Left Wing Extremists are, in fact, in retreat and resorting to desperate attacks. 
A Bastaria Battalion has been sanctioned recently with a strength of around 750 to be recruited from the local tribals. Similarly, 10 Special India Reserve Battalions (SIRB) and 56 India Reserve Battalions are being raised in the LWE areas, the Ministry said.  The MHA dubbed as “incorrect” observation in certain media reports that lack of financial resources were a reason for casualty of valuable lives of police and CRPF personnel which are being lost in the battle against Left Wing Extremism. 
“The funds released for Security Related Expenditure Scheme have increased from Rs. 575 crores in 2011-12, 2012-2013, 2013-2014 to Rs. 675 crores in 2014-15, 2015-2016, 2016-2017. The above increase is in spite of the fact that States now get a greater share (42%) of the Centre’s tax resources. Earlier this used to be only 32%.,” the clarification said. 
Denying that Chhattisgarh Police was in a shambles, the Home Ministry said that in addition to 45,000 Central Forces, over 20,000 State Police personnel are posted in Bastar region. Recruitment is an ongoing and continuous process. For a force of 70,000, about 3,000 policemen retire every year and there is always a pipeline of 6,000 people under recruitment, it pointed out. 
The Chhattisgarh police forces are well equipped and a Bastar package for police was introduced in end-2015. The Home Ministry asserted that there was complete coordination between Centre and State forces. 
“In fact 2016 has been the most successful year in anti-LWE operation. As compared to an average of 30 Naxals killed every year, 135 Naxals were neutralized in 2016 which is three times the number of police personnel killed. Even in 2017, 32 Naxals have been killed so far which is more than the average annual killings of Naxals before 2015. It is wrong to say that 72 CRPF personnel have sacrificed their lives in 2017. As a matter of fact 38 CRPF personnel have been martyred in Chhattisgarh in 2017. These figures clearly indicate that anti-Naxal operations are achieving success,” the statement said. 
As many as 58 Mine Protected Vehicles (MPVs) are available in Chhattisgarh to the CAPFs and 30 are under process for procurement through the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB). 42 Bullet Proof vehicles are also available and 210 Bullet Protected Vehicles (BPVs) are under process for procurement. 
On the development front, various initiatives have been taken recently such as sanction of a 5,412 kms road project at a cost of Rs. 11,725 crores, inclusion of all 35 worst affected LWE districts in the skill development programme, providing Navodaya and Kendriya Vidyalayas, banks, ATMs and post offices in these districts. 
On the health front, the flagship NHRM programme is followed up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on a constant basis and a super speciality hospital has been approved recently at Jagdalpur by way of upgradation of Jadgalpur Medical College. 
The next of kin of the martyred jawans currently get around Rs. 84 lakhs as assistance, the statement said. 
The Home Ministry clarified it has not issued any directions regarding not showing grieving widows on TV channels but it was a suggestion verbally made keeping in mind the sensitivities of the bereaved families and the fundamental decency of not intruding to the privacy of the grieving families.