Maoist threat

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently declared that "the greatest single threat to 'India's security' were the Maoist-led guerrilla armies and mass movements in the poorest parts of the country". The statement did not generate any discussion in popular media and I would assume most of the populace wouldn't have considered the statement worthy of dissection.
A separate statistic would help to understand the gravity of the situation better. The total number of districts in the country is 602. In the 1990s, the number of districts affected by Maoist violence stood at 15. In 15 years the number has risen exponentially, today the number of districts under some kind of Maoist influence stands at 170. Previously Indians could afford to ignore the Maoist issue as a remote problem, but with over one-fourth of the country experiencing Maoist influences it is about time the average Indian sat up and took notice.
The reason Maoist rebels have been able to grow so rapidly is directly related to India's failure in addressing the widespread poverty that afflicts the country. Mass movements that threaten to overthrow the existing establishment will always appeal to those who have been neglected by it. It should be noted that people would enroll within the cadres of these guerrilla armies, not essentially because they would subscribe to the ideologies of these nihilistic organizations, but only with the hope that such a cause may bring a better tomorrow.
The government's knee-jerk response to incidents of Maoist violence, like the recent attack on a police outpost in Chhattisgarh killing 55 people; the assasination of an MP Sunil Mahato, has been has been to deploy security forces to contain the violence. If only successive governments had done a better job, this issue wouldn't have crossed the seas and arrive at our doorstep. To combat violence with violence, is only a temporary solution and does not address deeper issues. Policies which address the economic inequality of the population will take us a longer way in resolving the Maoist violence.