Prime
Minister
Manmohan
Singh
inaugurating
the
Chief
Ministers
conference
on
Internal
Security
in
New
Delhi
on
February
7
said
that
hostile
groups
and
elements
were
operating
“from
across
the
border
to
perpetrate
terrorist
acts
in
our
country,
and
Jammu
and
Kashmir
bears
the
brunt
of
the
acts
of
these
groups”, according to The Hindu. There was a marked
decline
in
the
number
of
terrorist
incidents
in
Jammu and Kashmir
from
2008
to
2009,
he
said,
but
expressed
concern
at
the
increase
in
the
number
of
infiltration
bids.
Among
the
other
major
threats
to
the
country’s
security
were
insurgency
and
violence
in
the
Northeast
and
Left-Wing
Extremism,
he
said.
Meanwhile,
Union
Home
Minister
P.
Chidambaram
described
the
Pakistan-based
terrorist
outfits
as
“dark
forces,”
which
were
“implacably”
opposed
to
India. They
would
be
defeated
whenever
confronted,
he
said.
In
his
opening
statement,
he
said
such
militant
groups
as
the
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
and
the
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM)
staged
a
meeting
at
Muzaffarabad
in
the
Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir (PoK) on February 4. “Their
weapons
are
mayhem
and
violence,
and
their
goal
is
forcible
annexation
of
Kashmir. Let me make it clear that these dark forces will not succeed in their
designs,”
Chidambaram
said.
Home
Minister
Chidambaram
said that during 2009, there was a rise in the number
of
deaths
among
civilians
(591),
security
forces
(317)
and
militants
(217)
in
the
Maoist-affected
states.
Chidambaram
urged
the
State
governments
to
ensure
that
re-establishment
of
civil
administration
was
quickly
followed
by
implementation
of
development
and
welfare
schemes.
Chidambaram
said
there
was
a
“peculiar”
situation
in
Uttar
Pradesh,
where
in
December
2008
the
government
sanctioned
2,
04,021
new
posts,
and
the
recruitment
was
under
way,
added
The Hindu.
On the vacancies
in
the
State
Police
forces,
Chidambaram
said
that
1,
03,
000
recruitments
would
have
made
by
March 31, 2010, but
another
150
000
vacancies
needed
to
be
filled.
“It
is
a
tall
order,
but
not
impossible.
Gujarat has assured zero
vacancy
by
this
March-end.
I
am
sure
all
vacancies
will
be
wiped
out
if
not
by
September
this
year,
then
by
March
2011.”
According
to
IANS, he said the country had a little over 1.47 million Police personnel
till
January 1, 2009, and
it
increased
to
1.5
million
by
September
2009,
which
is
a
"positive
sign".
"However,
the
flipside
is
the
humongous
vacancies
in
the
sanctioned
posts.
As
on
January
1,
2009, there were 153,428 vacancies. It is expected to
decline
to
138,559
by
March
31,
2010," he said. |
