India holds meeting on Maoist issue

NEW DELHI, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Indian Interior Ministry Tuesday held a high-level meeting of officials to tackle the Maoist insurgency.

A ministry spokesman said the meeting was chaired by Vinay Kumar, additional secretary (Naxal Management Division) in the ministry, and focused on development issues and its relation to the insurgency.

"This is the fifth meeting of the group that the Interior Minister Shivraj Patil had constituted to formulate policies and action plan to check growing Maoist problem," the spokesman said. "The previous meeting was held in New Delhi in July this year where various development schemes were identified for Maoist-hit districts to wean away misguided youth."

Joint secretary-level officers from the ministries of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, Tribal Affairs, Elementary Education, Health, Forest, Information and Broadcasting, Environment and Forest, Women and Child Development, and Agriculture attended the meeting.

According to the Interior Ministry, participants discussed various development schemes to be implemented in the poverty-hit districts of the 12 states that are affected by Maoist violence.

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