BHUBANESWAR: Worried over rise in the influence of Left Wing Extremists (LEWs) across the Orissa-Chhattisgarh border, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday demanded inclusion of four more districts under the Security-Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. In a letter to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, the Chief Minister said that there was an urgent need to include Nuapada, Bargarh, Balangir and Kalahandi districts under the SRE scheme in order to strengthen the security infrastructure and capacity to effectively curtail and contain the spread of Maoists in these areas. Stating that there has been a significant rise in Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh and in the districts of Nuapada, Balangir and Bargarh of Odisha, Naveen said that the Maoists are continuing to build up a secure base in Sunabeda Reserve Forest of Nuapada district and in the adjoining areas. They are also engaged in an effort to spread their influence along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border by creating and consolidating bases in Nuapada, Bargarh, Balangir and Kalahandi districts of Western Odisha, he said. Naveen said that he had been making a demand for inclusion of four more districts under SRE for a long time. “During your visit to the State on November 9, 2011, I had also reiterated the request to include these districts under the SRE scheme,” he said in the letter. Fifteen districts had already been included under the SRE scheme.
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