The home department has, finally, made room for the elite Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (Cobra).

Last August, the Centre had given the nod to raise a 10,000-strong special force under the command and control of the CRPF to counter Naxalites primarily in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and other rebel-hit states.

The two battalions sanctioned for the state will be headquartered in Barhi, Hazaribagh, and near Sapphire International School on the Ranchi-Khunti border. The home department has sanctioned 101.50 acres in Barhi block and 85 acres in Khunti district.

Hazaribagh deputy commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey said the land along NH-33 had been lying barren and was, thus, allotted for housing the force. It will also use the Barhi sub-divisional office.

"The land in question was acquired in the Nineties for industrial purposes. But nothing positive moved on that front. The total barren area is about 575 acres. We are using 101.5 acres while the rest can be used for industrial purposes later," he said.

Khunti deputy commissioner Puja Singhal Purwar said the 85-acre stretch along Ranchi-Khunti road was ahead of Sapphire International School and opposite to the deer park.

State home secretary J.B. Tubid said the Cobra would man the Naxalite strongholds of Hazaribagh, Giridih, Koderma, Chatra, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Latehar and Palamau by December 2009. "The headquarters need to be ready as soon as possible."

Headquartered in the national capital, five of the 10 battalions of Cobra are being deployed in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Two battalions of more than 1,000 personnel each have already undergone training at the Jungle Warfare Training School in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and in Silchar, Assam. Equipped with 19 different assault weapons and intelligence techniques, they are waiting for their headquarters to get ready.

Over 70 districts in the country are grappling with Left-wing extremism, which has been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "virus" and the "biggest internal security threat".

Around 40 Cobra commandos are currently deployed in Lalgarh, Bengal, to counter the CPI (Maoist) offensive.

22 Jun 2009 / The Telegraph

In what is seen as a victory for workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act here in Jharkhand who had faced hardships because of delayed payment of compensation, as many as 174 of them from 10 villages of Khunti and Murhu blocks have received Rs. 2,000 each under the Payment of Wages Act, the total adding up to Rs. 3.48 lakh.

The payment was ordered by M.A. Haque, Assistant Labour Commissioner, Chotanagpur.

This came at the end of a month-long struggle. A team of student volunteers from Delhi University and elsewhere have been running a "sahayata kendra" (help centre) for NREGA workers here since May 1.

The first problem that came to their attention was that of delayed payments in the district. In most of the villages of Khunti and Murhu blocks that were surveyed, wages had not been paid for weeks, even months. In some cases, the delay added up to years. In the absence of timely payments, rural workers had developed an aversion to the NREGA.

NREGA workers should receive payment within 15 days, failing which they are entitled to compensation under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, of Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 3,000 each.

After the sahayata kendra alerted the district administration to the delays, wages were swiftly paid at many sites, without prejudice to the compensation claims.

The demand for compensation received a boost on June 4 when G. Krishnan, Adviser to the Governor of Jharkhand, sent instructions to Khunti for such payment. The Union Ministry of Rural Development also took a serious view of this matter.

K.K. Soan, the NREGA Commissioner for Jharkhand, and Dr. Haque, the Assistant Labour Commissioner, held a "camp court" in Khunti on June 6 at the sahayata kendra. NREGA workers from Tapinsara, Kota, Chamratoli, Gumpudu, Bududih, Simbukel, Belahathi, Taro Siladon, Chukru and Irud gram panchayats submitted applications for compensation. During this initial hearing, the focus was on cases where the delays were evident from official records, such as muster rolls and payment advices.

The camp court proceedings were swift; compensation was arranged the same day. Further hearings are to be held from June 11.