New Delhi: With non-Congress chief ministers
opposing the proposed NCTC, the Home Ministry now seems to be
trying to reach out to them by releasing the first instalment
of Rs 120 crore for construction of 400 fortified police
stations, mostly in Naxal-hit areas of these states.
As part of a decision of the Cabinet Committee on
Security, the Home Ministry has identified 83 worst Naxal-hit
districts to construct or strengthen 400 fortified police
stations at a cost of Rs 2 crore each.
The Ministry has released Rs 120 crore -- Rs 30 lakh each
- as first supplementary grant for incurring expenditure on
these police stations located in nine Left-wing extremism
affected states.
The states which will be benefited most are Bihar (85
police stations), Chhattisgarh (75), Jharkhand (75), Odisha
(70), West Bengal (18) and Madhya Pradesh (12). Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar, Chhattisgarh`s Raman Singh, Jharkhand`s
Arjun Munda, Odisha`s Naveen Patnaik, West Bengal`s Mamata
Banerjee and Madhya Pradesh`s Shivraj Singh Chouhan have come
out strongly against setting up of NCTC.
All these non-Congress chief ministers had complained
that the Central government was planning to set up the
anti-terror hub without any consultation with them.
Following their protests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and Home Minister P Chidambaram wrote separate letters to them
trying to allay their apprehensions.
The remaining of the 400 police stations, 40 will be
constructed in Andhra Pradesh, 15 in Uttar Pradesh and 10 in
Maharashtra.
PTI
