Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik meets his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar during the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)

Bhubaneswar, June 5: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today admitted that the situation arising out of Maoist violence remained “difficult” in two districts and “challenging” in three other districts of the state.

He sought deployment of two additional battalions of CRPF to contain the Maoists.

Speaking at the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security in New Delhi today, Naveen said there had been an overall improvement in the situation in 2012 and 2013. “The situation, however, remains difficult in parts of Malkangiri and Koraput districts and in Nuapada, Balangir and Bargarh districts,” he said.

Official sources said Left-wing extremism had shown a steady rise in the state in 2012. The situation had improved in districts such as Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Deogarh. Even the intensity of Maoist activities and violence had come down in the Gajapati, Ganjam and Sundargarh districts.

Naveen said that although the state government had taken several measures to upgrade its capacity to fight Left-wing extremism, these efforts required continued and additional support from the Centre.

“To effectively manage the Maoist problems in the state, the central government should urgently deploy two additional battalions of CRPF to contain fresh build-up by Maoists in the districts bordering Chhattisgarh and provide one dedicated MI-17 military helicopter,” he said.

At present, 17 battalions of central paramilitary forces, including CRPF and Border Security Force, have been deployed in Maoist-hit areas of the state.

The chief minister also urged that installation of mobile towers in Naxal-affected areas be expedited by the BSNL.

Demanding more allocation under the Integrated Action Plan, he reiterated the state’s demand for inclusion of Dhenkanal and Bargarh under the scheme.

Naveen sought enhanced provision for construction of marine police stations, adequate and timely release of funds for modernisation of police force and extension of Mega City Police Scheme to cover Bhubaneswar.

He said the pressure on the police had increased for prompt handling of offences against women, weaker sections and vulnerable population and the situation demanded additional resources to increase their strength. He sought the central government’s support for raising the number of civil police by meeting their full cost for five years after which it could be gradually phased out.

On the issue of the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre, Naveen said that though the central government had made some changes, all the issues had not been addressed.

“Federal rights of the state should be respected and protected at all costs and no direct or indirect interference in the autonomy of the state shall be tolerated,” he said. The proposed law would help the Centre to intervene directly in crisis areas.