Maoists campaign to strengthen ranks in Bihar India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

With the Government of India and the State governments taking coordinated action against them, the Naxalites are carrying out recruitment drives in the rural areas here to strengthen their ranks. In their campaign, Maoists have been criticising the Manmohan Singh Government for not helping the poor people in rural areas. Slogans are raised against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister at these meetings. "Please help our organisation by participating in its activities. You have to build an organisation for yourself to protect your dignity," said one of the Maoist leaders during a meeting. The Maoists are particularly angry against the Manmohan Singh, as he has described them 'a major security threat to the country'. The Central Government has sanctioned special funds to raise additional forces to fight the Naxalites. Maoists have formally been labelled as a terrorist group by the Central Government, which has given security forces more enforcement powers to curb them The Naxals have spread to more than 180 of the country's 630 districts from just 56 in 2001. They have carried out raids against police stations and jails and made away with weapons. Equipped with automatic weapons, mines and explosives, the Maoists carry out attack and cripple economic activity. Last year, they carried out around 1,000 attacks, mostly in remote jungles and villages, particularly in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal . The Intelligence Bureau is holding a conference of Director Generals of Police of all the States of the country to consider security measures. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P.Chidambaram would be addressing the conference, which opens in New Delhi on Monday (Sep.13).