"It is time that not only the Center (federal government) but also the state governments put in place a coordinated plan to deal with the problem (Maoist violence)," said Mahendra Ved, a senior security analyst.

He said protection of people and public property that has been ignored, should get paramount importance. Ved said there should not be any further delay in the task of bringing about much better coordination and cooperation among states, particularly in areas like sharing intelligence inputs and close monitoring of the borders.

The state police, Ved said, needs to break away their law and order mindset and adopt a positive and friendly approach to win the confidence of the poor section of the society that remains alienated from the governance.

Indian interior ministry has recently prepared a 14-point status paper on growing naxal violence in the country. The status paper was presented in the Indian parliament early March. Naxal refers to Maoist rebels in the Indian context.

The federal and provincial governments in India have been facing tough task in checking the influence of armed Maoist rebels, who have spread in central, western, eastern and southern parts of the country.

The government of one of the worst naxal-hit southern Andhra Pradesh made an attempt to win over the rebels and invited them for talks on condition they lay down their arms. The move failed to yield any result, as rebels refused to meet the condition.

The federal government pledged through status paper that it would not hold any talks with Maoist rebels. "There will be no peace dialogue by affected states with the naxal groups unless the latter agree to give up violence and arms," the status paper said.

"(The) government will deal sternly with the naxalites indulging in violence," said Shivraj Patil, India's interior minister. Patil said naxalism being an inter-state problem the states would adopt a collective approach and pursue a coordinated response to counter it.

Lack of coordination and seldom sharing of intelligence inputs on the activities of rebels helped Maoists to expand their areas of influence from one state to other. The rebels only operate in India's hinterland and claim to defend the interests of poor farmers.

The Interior Ministry through its paper urged the political parties to strengthen their cadre base in naxal-affected areas to wean away potential youths from naxal ideology.

It also asked the state government to launch pro-poor welfare schemes in rural areas on a regular basis. More than 13 Indian states are affected by Maoists violence that killed several thousand in the last 15 years.

India has raised a special battalion of paramilitary force to deal with Maoist rebels, who say they have been waging an armed struggle against the state to turn the country into a communist regime.

On Feb. 9 about 200 Maoist rebels stormed a state-run explosive depot in central province of Chhattisgarh, killing eight security personnel and taking away a huge cache of explosives.

They also set off a landmine under a truck in the same province on Feb. 28 and killed 50 people who were working with a state-sponsored anti-naxal group. The rebels on Mar. 13 also hijacked a passenger train in western Jharkhand, later releasing all travelers.

The Maoist rebels have been launching attacks periodically on India's largest railway network that covers over 64,000 km with over 7,000 stations. Railway is the cheapest mode of transportation in India.

The leadership of Maoist rebels in India continues to pursue their plan to wage armed struggle to capture political power. In the recent past naxalite groupings laid greater focus on organizing along military lines.

They have also acquired sophisticated weapons whereas the police in India by and large still depend on old weapons. This has caused a serious concern for the federal government.

"The naxal-affected provinces have been asked to identify vulnerable police stations and outposts in the naxal-affected areas and take up their fortification, "the government paper said.

Maoists in India are generally using landmines to blast government vehicle carrying security personnel and building hosting administrative offices.

With a view to protect its personnel, the Interior Ministry has provided anti-landmine vehicles to the states police. Besides, police have been told not to travel in large groups.

Maoist rebels have adopted new latest tactics of engaging in simultaneous multiple attacks in the large numbers particularly against police forces and police establishments. It has led to increased causalities of police personnel.

A total of 153 policemen were killed in 194 naxal attacks last year as against 100 in 232 such attacks in 2004.

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