Engaged in a bitter fight with the Naxalites, the Chhattisgarh Government has announced a new sop of an additional 15 per cent allowance for policemen participation in operations against the communist rebels. Touted as first of its kind initiative, the order would cover personnel posted at 84 police stations in the state’s hypersensitive Naxal-hit areas.

“This will definitely boost the morale of the policemen fighting the extremists,” state Principal Secretary (Home) N K Aswal said, while pointing out that the incentive has been offered over and above the existing salary of the cops engaged in anti-Naxal operations.

The decision to offer a financial incentive to security personnel has come in the midst of first ever joint anti-Naxalite operation launched by the police of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in the Bastar region.

Apart from the 84 police stations, the allowance will also be paid to personnel from eight battalions of the state police presently located in the Naxal-affected districts of the state. The decision would benefit at least 5,000 policemen of the rank of inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and constables, deployed mostly in the Bastar region.

Official sources said the demand for an additional allowance for security personnel engaged in anti-Naxalite operations was pending for a long time. The state policemen had been fighting the Maoists without any ‘substantial’ financial incentives. Till now police officers posted in Naxal-affected areas were only entitled to a ‘nutritious diet allowance’ of Rs 650 a month.

Police sources said apart from providing financial relief, the incentive would also encourage policemen to opt for a posting in five sensitive districts in Bastar, namely Kanker, Narayanpur, Bastar, Bijapur and Dantewada.