NEW DELHI, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- India says Maoist activities in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have risen by 40 to 50 percent.
"I do not wish to take any political mileage but this is a fact that Naxal activities in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have gone up by 40 and 50 per cent respectively," Indian Interior Minister Shivraj Patil told Parliament Thursday.
Naxal is the term used in India to refer to Maoists.
The minister said federal government is fully committed to combat the rebels.
He said the federal government had helped in setting up a unified command in various states, but the onus to deploy forces was on states.
Patil said he has asked a number of state governments to fill up more than 10,000 vacancies in police forces as soon as possible.
Responding to a query, Patil said there were ideological and fraternal links between the Maoists of Nepal and Naxalite groups in India, "but there is no specific evidence available of an operational or material relationship between them including training."
