Nainital, Sept 24 (ZEENEWS.COM) Pointing out there was an underlying sense of insecurity among members of a minority community, the Prime Minister on Saturday termed "erroneous" the linking of a particular religion with terrorism and said this "tarnished the community’s image."

He sought appropriate steps to dispel feeling of mistrust in the community and recommended use of education and mass media for the purpose.

Singh said officers expert in administration and development should be posted in Naxalism-affected areas.

He said incentives be given for such postings or they made compulsory to dispel the notion of postings in Naxalite areas as punishment.

Advocating better coordination between the Centre and the states in dealing with internal security issues, Singh said terrorism, Naxal violence and communal disturbances were three main areas of concern.

Naxals thrive in neglected areas

Referring to the growing influence of Naxalites in several states, Singh said they have thrived in the "most neglected" areas of the country, particularly the tribal areas.

Observing that Andhra Pradesh had been most successful against Naxalites, he suggested that officers from other affected states be sent to the Andhra Pradesh to get an insight and training to tackle the menace.

He also warned the unaffected states not to be complacent saying the Naxalites worked on a long-term basis and spend lot of time to spread their base at the grass root level before taking on the might of the state.

PM concerned over foreign-backed groups

Describing as "worrisome" the activities of externally-sponsored terror groups, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also warned of a spurt in suicide attacks targetting religious, economic and sensitive institutions in the country.

He termed as disconcerting reports that suggest the existence of a number of terrorist modules and sleeper cells in some urban areas which provide the backup for foreign terrorist outfits.

"The activities of externally-sponsored terrorist outfits is equally worrisome. Their involvement has grown.

"The concern is that there could be a further intensification involving greater use of fidayeen elements and targetting of a wider range of religions, economic and sensitive objects," Singh said addressing the two-day conclave here of chief ministers of Congress-ruled states.

"Intelligence is clearly the key to better performance. Improvements in intelligence are being effected at central and state levels," he said while asking the chief ministers to tone up their intelligence machinery.

Emphasing on the importance of generating intelligence at the police station level, the Prime Minister pointed out that this area had not got the desired attention.

"There is no substitute for adequately trained and equipped police force and intelligence agencies. I am afraid this does not get the desired attention," he said.

"You need to look into this," he told the chief ministers attending the conclave.

Translate outlays into outcomes

The Prime Minister said there was need for taking all legitimate steps to redress public grievances and asked the chief ministers to work towards translating outlays into outcomes to give new hope to the people.

Singh said states of Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, four of which are ruled by the Congress, should focus on supply of pure drinking water in their villages.

The Prime Minister said public investment in agriculture sector has been increased from Rs 3,000 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 5,500 crore in 2005-06.

Singh also recalled the Centre had recently announced an aid of Rs 3,750 crore for six suicide-prone areas of Vidarbha region and a similar package was being worked out for 31 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, where waiver or rescheduling of farm loans and subsidiary income for farmers were proposed.

Saying that 70 per cent of the country depended on rainfall for agriculture, he said there should a repeat of the green revolution brought about under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

"A policy on farmers is being prepared by the Centre and it will be ready soon," he said.

Lay more emphasis on integration of rural India: PM

The PM said the state governments should lay more emphasis on integration of rural India with economic development of the country by focusing on agriculture, drinking water and electrification of villages.

Expressing concern over current growth rate of agriculture at the inaugural session of a two-day conclave of chief ministers of 14 Congress-ruled states, he asked the states to make special efforts to ensure that schemes chalked out under Bharat Nirman programme for uplift of rural India were effectively implemented.

Noting that targets set under Bharat Nirman programme had exceeded in the first year of its implementation, he cautioned the main challenges lay in the next two years.

Rural development is govt’s primary focus

Asserting that UPA government`s primary focus was on rural development, education, health and agriculture sectors, Manmohan Singh said, "In the last two years, the Centre has increased budgetary allocation for these sectors since they affect a majority of people.

A recent review of these sectors pointed towards a difference in the performance of various states," he said.

Singh said there was need to develop infrastructure in rural India and integrate villages with areas where economic development was taking place.

He said Rs 16,500 crore had been provided under Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme to ensure power supply to every village in the country.

"I would like everyone of you to ensure that by 2009, electricity reaches every village," the Prime Minister said.

The aim was to bring an additional one crore hectares of land under irrigation, he said, adding that Andhra Pradesh had taken a lead in this area.

Violence down in J&K, ULFA losing support

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said certain elements are making "deliberate attempts" to play up "stray incidents" in Jammu & Kashmir and blamed ULFA leaders based outside the country of prolonging the conflict in Assam.

Asserting that his government was making every effort to to ensure the all-round development of Jammu and Kashmir, Singh, while addressing Congress Chief Ministers here, expressed concern at attempts to portray an untrue picture of the State and to prevent the return of normalcy there.

"Inciting people utilising stray incidents and dubious means, involving so-called moral and religious grounds, is taking place," he said at the inaugural session of the two-day conclave of Chief Ministers of 14 Congress-ruled states.

"Return to normalcy is being prevented by some elements by carrying out grenade attacks on tourists and on innocent people," he said, and vowed to pursue efforts to find peace both with people of the terrorism-hit state and with Pakistan.

"We see that levels of violence (in Jammu and Kashmir) have come down during the past two years. Infiltration across the line of control has also diminished. We are making all efforts to ensure all-round development of the state," he said.

On the northeast, he said the outlawed ULFA was losing support at the local level in Assam while sporadic incidents of violence continued in other states of the region.

"The ULFA faces a dilemma of declining support and morale within Assam and hence a desire on the part of local leaders to hold talks with the government -- as against intransigence displayed by their leaders outside, who remain intent on persisting with violent conflict," he said.

Violence in the northeastern states on the whole had gone down, when compared to past years, Singh said.