Kolkata: The government believes that police
action and development must go together to deal with Maoists
who are out of sync with the people, Union Home Minister P
Chidambaram said on Monday.
"We place equal emphasis on development ... Our position
is police action and development must go hand in hand,"
Chidambaram told a press conference here.
"But we must take action also to tackle the Maoists, I
don`t think any party, including the Trinamool Congress,
disagrees with that," he said.
"In some affected areas, police action is necessary to
build roads, schools or other facilities," Chidambaram said.
The Home Minister said that the Centre had given Rs 25
crore each to the 60 Maoist-affected districts under the
integrated action plan last year and Rs 30 crore each to the
select districts again this year.
On the Maoist call for boycotting elections in five
states, he said this had no effect on the people.
"There is no indication that the call has affected the
people`s desire to vote to decide their future. Maoists are
out of sync with the minds of the people," he said.
"They (Maoists) believe in armed struggle, but the people
believe in the democratic path," the Union home minister said.
PTI
