Nagaland chief minister urges Rajnath for early release of SRE funds

KOHIMA: Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang urged Union home minister Rajnath Singh to expedite the release of funds for Security Related Expenditure (SRE) pending with Government of India amounting to Rs 236.27 crore. On Sunday, Zeliang went to meet Rajnath at his official residence in New Delhi to discuss a host of issues, a statement from the media cell of the chief minister's office (CMO) read.
Zeliang appreciated Centre's promptness in releasing SRE of Rs 60.00 crore. He informed the home minister that previously the state government had decided that Nagaland Armed Police (NAP) IR battalion would not be re-deployed for Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh. The decision was taken after the Naga IR battalion had lost a number of jawans who laid their lives fighting the Maoists in Chhattisgarh a few years ago. Of late, the state government has budged from its previous stand and has decided to send IR troops to Chhattisgarh as per the MHA directions.
The issue regarding cost of raising huge IR battalions was also discussed.
He urged the home minister to grant one-time assistance to clear the pending dues and also to complete the projects on time.