Internal Security: How technology can help in surveillance in red corridor area?

Currently, the Maoists are active in at least nine out of the 28 states making the dreaded red corridor. Because the Maoist insurgency so far has been a purely indigenous, mostly localized phenomenon, each state has developed its own approach to tackling Maoist violence according to that state government’s own experience and political context. In the same way, the insurgency in each state has its unique flavor, composition, and history, and uses the state-specific theater of violence to its advantage. This article is basically on a potential question in your examination on how the technology can help in surveillance in Red Corridor; what do we have and what should we focus on.

The use of Technology in Maoist areas

An advantage that the Maoists enjoy in the forests but lose in open rural areas also relates to technology. Although, the state is well equipped with the ability to acquire technology to that of the Maoists, who have neither the money nor the infrastructure to incorporate advanced technologies into their operations, but not being able to use mobile phones, surveillance devices, UAVs, and the like in the Maoists’ operational areas, therefore, is much more of a disadvantage for the state than it is for the Maoists The basis of technological surveillance is to break each urban area down into very small units, enabling pinpoint accuracy in identifying anything unusual, a quick official response, and speedy isolation of the small grid units, to prevent any spread of words, ideas or actions that are prohibited. Therefore, the government has and should take certain technological help to keep surveillance in the red corridor:

What we have

• Aiming to overcome the communication problem in Maoist-affected areas, the government is now installing solar-powered telecom towers in these regions, which will not only save fuel worth millions of rupees every year but also reduce carbon emissions. The Naxalites often target school buildings, roads, railways, bridges, and health infrastructure and communication facilities in these areas. Lack of communication facilities not only affects the work of security forces, but also hampers the developmental work in these areas.
• The country’s specialised department for technological surveillance , National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) has set up its first base in a naxal hotbed in Chhattisgarh to monitor the movement of armed Maoist cadres and fly UAVs to help security forces to track them.
• Intelligence is one of the most important factors that can be pivotal in defeating the Naxalites. The latest technological development in collection of intelligence data is the space-based radar system — which can, in consonant with a GPS system, provide 24-hour surveillance of target area.
• India has also recently acquired a number of aircraft such as the PC-3 Orion for maritime surveillance and Israel will soon be delivering to India its own version of the AWACS, also known as Falcon. Meanwhile, the DRDO has also revived its AWACS development program and it is only a matter time that India will boast its own capability.

What we should focus on

(a) Surveillance can be carried out by the UAV drones, night vision and thermal imagery in densely forested areas to track movements of naxalite.

(b) Use of mobiles and radios can help communicating in local population, thus promoting awareness about development avenues and counter Naxal ideology and bridge the communication gap between government and the rural area.

(c)  Installation of surveillance cameras away from the eyes of the Maoists can solve a lot of problems. India can use Chinese system of grid management which dissects the area into monitoring the lives of citizens in each small grid extending the panoptic gaze of the state into very small, discrete, spaces.

(d) Digital India campaign can be best used in the Naxal infested areas by extending the internet and other digital communication facilities to these areas. This will help the government in getting complaints by the citizens which will further increase the efficiency of the armed forces deployed in those areas to eradicate the Maoists.

(e) Maoist propaganda may be countered through short wave radio stations in remote areas which will announce govt. welfare policies in native languages.