Army to start its second phase of training soon

Also plans to establish counter insurgency warfare school at Kondagaon

Raipur, November 02, 2011

The Army will commence its second phase of jungle warfare training soon in dense forests of Bastar division. The commander of Chhattisgarh-Orissa Sub-Area Headquarters Brigadier Amrik Singh on Wednesday informed the media persons that training would be imparted to about 3000 jawans of a new brigade which reached state capital on November 1.

The brigade left for Kanker on Wednesday morning. Notably, the state government had provided about 500 square kilometers of forest land stretching from Kanker to Narayanpur district to the Army for its training sessions.

The entire training area is said to be dominated by the naxals who maintained safer distance from the Army during its first training session in the first half of 2011 from March to May.

Singh clarified that the Army training programmes had no links with the anti-naxal operations of paramilitary and police troops. “The Army jawans would rather help the local to deal with the problem of drinking water scarcity and teach schoolchildren,” Singh said.

The Army is also planning to establish National School of Counter Insurgency Warfare (NSCIW) at Kondagaon at the cost of over Rs 800 crore. The state government has reportedly provided a large tract of land to the Army near Kondagaon for the project.

According to information, the objective to open NSCIW is to train paramilitary and state police forces to combat Maoists. Presently, the Army provides training to the state and paramilitary forces at Belgaum in Karnataka and Wairangate in Mizoram.