Home Minister P Chidambaram today said that Left Wing Extremism poses a major threat to the country. Inaugurating a national workshop on development strategies for implementaion of rural development schemes in 60 naxal affected districts under the Integrated Action Plan, Mr Chidambaram said, that it is the most violent movement the country faces today. He said the greatest challenge is to establish governance in areas affected by Left wing Extremism.The Home Minister said that the number of battalions deployed in naxal affected districts have been increased from 31 in 2008 to 71 in 2011. He added that a specialised batallion is also being prepared to deal with the security and engineering component in the naxal affected districts. The Minister however said that the number of security personnels that can be deployed in these regions is limited.Mr Chidambaram asserted that the primary responsibility of maintaining law and order and managing the development works in naxal affected regions lies with the State Governments. He said the Centre can only assist by providing funds, security forces, technological assistance and other guidance to tackle the Left wing extemism. He, however, stated that the most effective way of dealing with the problem of naxalism is to win the hearts and minds of villagers. Stating that the battle against naxalism can not be won without the support of local people, Mr Chidambaram said that the state governments have to play an important role in this regard. The Minister also emphasised that the state governments should allocate more funds for policing and development of these districts.Praising the implementaion of schemes under the Integarted Action Plan, Mr Chidambaram said that none of these developmental schemes have been targetted by the naxals. He said that the Government is contemplating bringing 20 more naxal affected districts under the Integrated Action Plan.Addressing the gathering, Rural development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that there is need to identify critical infrastructure gaps in the worst naxal affected districts. He urged the Home Minister to provide CRPF assistance in these selected districts to provide security to carry out development work. He also urged the Road trasport and Highways Ministry to relax the norms for constructing highways in critical regions so as to provide better connectivity to these regions.AIR Correspondent reports that District Collectors of all the 60 districts under the Integrated Action Plan are participating in the day long workshop to evolve appropriate developmental strategies for effective implementation of various rural development schemes in these regions. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will also address the workshop later in the day.