Centre to provide Rs 1,000 cr assistance to Maoist hit states

New Delhi: In a bid to tackle the Naxal menace, government will provide a stand-alone Rs 1000 crore additional central assistance to districts affected by Maoist-violence for strengthening development and welfare initiatives there. A decision in this regard is expected to be taken by the Union Cabinet tomorrow. [caption id=“attachment_983555” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image for representation only. AFP[/caption] Sources said the additional central assistance would not form a part of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) for which enhanced amount has been provided in this year’s Annual Plan to address the devlopment issues of backward districts. The additional central assistance for Maoist-affected districts will be on 100 per cent grant basis and cover 82 Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts. “An amount of Rs 1000 crore will be provided per year involving a total requirement of Rs 4000 crore for the period 2013-14 to 2015-17,” a source said. Funds will be allocated on the basis of a fixed amount of Rs 5 crore per district and the remaining amount will be distributed on the basis of area and population of the district with equal weightage, said the source. According to officials, the availability of untied funds will enable the district-level committee to take up projects which are required immediately by the local people and will help develop critical insfrastructure to serve the needs of Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts. A moratorium will be imposed on the number of districts to be included in the scheme. No new districts beyond the existing 82 districts will be considered for the inclusion. There will be a close convergence between Security Related Expenditure Scheme (SRE Scheme) and Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) of Union Home Ministry and additional central assistance for LWE-hit districts so that development and security can work in tandem in bringing the development deficit in these areas, an official added. The proposal is based on the recommendation by a committee to review the IAP scheme. The committee, comprising secretary, Planning Commission and secretaries of the Ministries of Home, Rural Development, Tribal Affairs, Panchayati Raj and Environment, has underlined the need to continue the provision of untied funds to LWE districts. PTI