Chidambaram satisfied with anti-Naxal operations

Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram said on Friday that the progress of the on-going operation against the Maoists in the Naxal-hit states was "satisfactory"."The joint operation against the Naxalites is few weeks old and the progress has been satisfactory," Chidambaram told media-persons after a high-level meeting convened in Raipur to review the operation.

Besides Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik and Maharashtra Home Minister, R R Patil, attended the meeting that lasted for about two hours.Senior police officials of the Naxal-infested states and para-military forces engaged in the operation were also present.

"The goal of the operation is not to engage in gun-battles," Chidambaram said, adding that the operation would re-assert the establishment of civil-administration in the affected pockets. The administration would be allowed to exercise the coordination of taking up development works in the areas," he said. The home minister clarified that the government intended to avoid unnecessary violence and collateral damage through the operation."All that the operation will do is to move the security forces inside (the disturbed areas) and regain control from the Naxalites," he added.

The three states (Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra) have agreed to cooperate and coordinate in the joint operation. "As the operation continues, the progress is going to be more satisfactory," Chidambaram said. The Union Minister said there was no such operation "Green Hunt going on in the country. "For the convenience, a senior officer of a state had coined the name," he said. The joint operation is nothing but troop and technology that the Centre is providing to the states to deal with the Naxal menace, he added.