Be it left wing extremism in the hinterland or insurgency in the Northeast, the NDA government has claimed a huge improvement in the security situation in the country. A comprehensive review of the overall internal security situation undertaken last month has prompted the Union home ministry to withdraw the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Meghalaya and certain parts of Arunachal Pradesh, leaving only Tirap, Changlang, Longdeng and eight police stations in areas bordering Assam.
The home ministry has also decided to relax the Protected Area Permit (PAP) for five years for foreigners visiting Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland barring nationals of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This has been done with an eye on development and increasing tourist inflow to these areas.
The move assumes significance as the ruling party at the Centre, the BJP, is increasing its presence in the northeast.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju said it is a sign of overall improvement of security situation in the country. “Today the internal security situation has visibly improved in the northeast as well as the naxal affected states. The state governments in power are more effective and there is an increased coordination between the centre and state governments. Since the MHA oversees the overall security situation in the country, it has taken a view to remove AFSPA from Meghalaya and parts of Arunachal Pradesh since insurgent acitivites have gone down in these areas and law and order has been maintained,” he said. Rijiju pointed out the fact that 44 districts that have been struck off from the MHA list of worst LWE affected districts in the country, demonstrates the overall improvement in internal security.
Incidentally, the MHA claims come at a time when just a year is left for the 2019 general elections, giving an opportunity to the BJP government to claim a huge improvement in the security situation in the country in the last four years.
Home ministry officials cited figures to buttress these claims. “The year 2017 recorded the lowest number of insurgency incidents and casualties among the civilians and security forces during the last two decades since 1997. While insurgency has been wiped out from Tripura and Mizoram, there has been a marked improvement in the security situation in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur,” said an MHA official .
Officials said there has been a huge reduction of 96 per cent in casualties among the security forces from 289 in 1997 to 12 in 2017. Civilian casualties also dropped by 96 per cent from 907 in the year 2000 to 37 last year. Insurgency incidents during the same period reduced by 85 per cent from 1963 to 308. So far as cases related to kidnapping and abductions are concerned, there has been a 40 percent drop from 168 incidents in the year 2016 to 102 last year, they said.
“In Assam, sustained counter-insurgency operations against NDFB(S) have resulted in neutralizing 63 cadres and arrest of 1,052 cadres besides recovery of huge arms and ammunition between December 2014 and March 2018,” official data reveals.
Meanwhile, the government has sanctioned 10 India Reserve Battalions in March this year, two each for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. The MHA will reimburse 75 per cent of standard cost of raising and half the cost of infrastructure development for these new battalions.
In another major step, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has also approved the MHA proposal for enhancement in overall cost from Rs.138.95 crore to Rs.212.85 crore for strengthening of police establishments, infrastructure development for creation of 11 new police stations and upgradation of 9 existing police stations in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
A comprehensive review of the Security Related Expenditure Scheme for Northeastern States was undertaken over the last few months, sources said. It was also decided that the monetary benefits for Home Guards will be increased to Rs 6,000 per month from Rs 150 per day; Honorarium for Village Defence Guard (VDP) will be doubled to Rs 3,000 per month from Rs 1,500 per month; Maintenance expenses of designated camp for each cadre of SoO (Suspension of Operations) will be enhanced from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per month.
Further, the government has also decided to increase the ex-gratia for those killed and injured in extremist violence. In cases of civilian death, it has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh; in cases of death of police personnel it has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. In cases of permanent disability of police personnel it has been increased from Rs 75,000 to Rs 5 lakh.
The surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy for North-East has also been reviewed. Under the revised norms, surrendered militant will get an immediate grant of Rs 4 lakh as against Rs 1 lakh earlier. Monthly stipend has been raised from Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000 for three years. Incentives for weapons/ammunition has been increased ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Provisions will be made for vocational training for self-employment and funds will be provided for construction of rehabilitation camps besides making Aadhaar biometric registration compulsory for those surrendered.
Helicopter services have been extended to Manipur in order to provide connectivity to remote areas. Presently, these services are in operation in the states of Arunchal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Mizoram with a subsidy of 75 per cent on operation costs from MHA for a fixed annual ceiling on flying hours.
Last week, the MHA removed 44 districts from its list of 129 districts that are covered under the Security Related Expenditure scheme. The SRE scheme covers the worst LWE affected districts. The criteria to include these districts under the scheme included intensity of naxal violence over a period of five years. “Exceptions can be made in some cases where it is found that a particular district which was earlier not affected or marginally affected, has, over the past two or three years, been reporting a large number of cases of naxal violence,” say the guidelines. According to the home ministry, these 44 districts have been removed from the SRE scheme as they no longer require intervention. Experts however pointed out that other government schemes meant for development of backward areas in the country need to take over so as to sustain the progress made on the security front.