Four more districts included in Security Related Expenditure scheme

Times of India, April 16, 2012
BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has accepted Odisha's demand to include four more extremism-affected districts under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, official sources said on Sunday.
The state government had been demanding inclusion of Nuapada, Balangir, Bargarh and Kalahandi districts under SRE. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had also pressed for it at a meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January.

"The Centre has recently sent us a communique stating that the four districts would be covered under SRE," an official source said. This follows a report of the Union home ministry on Maoist activities, in which it has categorized Odisha as "severely affected" alongside Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

Under SRE, the Union government reimburses in full the money spent on anti-Maoist operations and police infrastructure improvement. With the latest inclusion, 19 out of 30 districts in Odisha would benefit under the central scheme, official sources said. "For the 15 districts, the state used to get around Rs 80-90 crore per annum as reimbursement. With the addition of four more districts, the central assistance should cross Rs 100 crore a year," an official said.

The central government, however, is yet to send two dedicated helicopters to battle Maoists, sources added.