The government has approved 21 Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism Schools, CIATs, in the country during the 11th five year plan period.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Minister of state for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh said, at present, 17 CIAT schools are functional in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.

Mr Singh said, several training courses are also being run for police personnel in these states. He said over 18300 police personnel have been trained till April this year in these schools.