Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said the Centre would establish Greyhounds Centre, sanction Rapid Action Force (RAF) and give one more Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalion to curb terrorist and Naxal activities in Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Singh, along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, laid the foundation stone for the construction of the campus for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 10th Battalion, at Kondapavuluru village in Gannavaram mandal, at a cost of Rs. 200 crore, on Monday.
“The Home Ministry has sanctioned more CRPF personnel for Andhra Pradesh and instructions have been given in this regard. Once elections are over in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and three other States the force will come to the State. The AP Government has sent a requisition for RAF and for setting up of Greyhounds, and we will look into the matter,” the Union Home Minister said.
NDRF lauded
The Greyhounds was doing good work in Telangana State (TS) in controlling the Left Wing Extremism (LWE), and the Greyhounds Centre would be on par with TS, he said.
Praising the NDRF, which rescued some thousands of people in the last 10 years, Mr. Singh said the force had received acclaims in Japan and Nepal too for rescuing victims and retrieving bodies during earthquakes.
“The NDRF should conduct pre-emptive strikes and develop more techniques in rescue operations. The force is well trained in tackling radiological, biological and nuclear disasters, floods and earthquakes. Though there are many forces across the world in disaster management, the NDRF is having high reputation,” said Mr. Singh and asked it to further improve the performance.
The Chief Minister said the CRPF, Greyhounds and the RAF were necessary as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS) was spreading fast in the State. The forces were essential to control Maoists, he said and thanked the Union Minister for setting up the NDRF campus in AP.
“Our State is vulnerable for cyclones and every year we are facing calamities. Whenever there was a disaster, I observed the presence of NDRF, which played a vital role in saving the lives of the victims. During Godavari and Krishna Pushkarams the NDRF did a commendable job. We are planning to set up the National Academy of Prisons at Rajamahendravaram,” Mr. Naidu said.
He sanctioned a fou r-lane approach road to the new NDRF campus connecting Vijayawada by-pass road, as requested by its Director General R.K. Pachnanda.
Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary, Deputy Chief Minister Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, Ministers Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and Kollu Ravindra and others participated in the foundation stone laying ceremony.
