National Coordination Center – A database of Maoists

The Government of India is planning to set up a National Coordination Center (NCC) that will function as a data bank of Maoists. It will act as a synergy point for anti – Maoist operations and intelligence gathering.

Key features of the NCC

• It will create a strategy for security agencies to counter support received by the Maoist leaders. It will also control the sympathy gained or created by the Maoists in the social media
• It will utilize knowledge of retired police officers who served in anti – Maoist operations in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh.
• NCC will identify the sources of finance to the Maoists and work to neutralize the network

Maoism in India

• The number of Maoist incidents was 500 in 1989. It has come down to 354 in 2018
• The Geographical spread of Maoism has reduced in the last five years
• In the last 10 years before 2018, the number of police stations affected with violence has come down to 250 from 465.

Main regions of Maoism

The most formidable strong hold of Maoism is southern areas of Chattisgarh, Andhra – Odisha border, parts of Jharkhand. In particular the three districts Bijapur, Sukma and Dantewada have strong hold of Maoists. South Sukma has encountered around 150 Maoist attacks.

The prospective base areas of Maoist leaders include Saranda forest, Parasnath hills, areas adjoining districts of Bihar.

Concerns of Maoism

• Gaining the trust of the locals is the major challenge. The locals were killed mercilessly in public on mere suspicion of being alleged police informers.
• The mobile towers in and around these areas are very less. This affects the flow of intelligence from the core areas to execute operations against the Maoists. In Bijapur district, there were only 50 towers for a combined area of 6,000 square kilometers.

Significance of NCC

• Government takes measures to address the administrative vacuum which is the major challenge in addressing Maoism. Around 20 camps were established in South Bastar last year
• The Andhra – Odisha border and some districts of Odisha are inaccessible. The continuous exploitation of inter – state boundaries by the Maoists is the major concern. The NCC will help to combat this exploitation.
• The Center will work with the Indian Institute of IED Management to analyze various types of IEDs used by the Maoists.
• Joint operations between the state police is also being suggested. This will help to concentrate on tri – junctions of the LWE affected states, especially in the borders. NCC will work towards achieving this goal
• NCC will also help in real time information sharing, joint action and coordination among different states, etc.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019