Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has assured full protection to politicians working in Naxal-affected states irrespective of their party affiliation.

Briefing reporters in New Delhi last evening, Mr. Shinde said there was no flaw in government strategy to fight Naxalism.

He said he will visit Chhattisgarh today to have first hand account of the situation in the state. The Minister said government is giving top priority to basic infrastructure and livelihood of tribals in the country.

In reply to a question, the Home Minister said the Centre has information that Naxals may try to target urban centres and there was specific information about Pune.

Dismissing media reports about his over stay in US, Mr. Shinde said, he extended his visit to meet an eye specialist. He asserted that he was in touch with the leaders and senior officers of his Ministry during his foreign tour.

Meanwhile, the government has extended the Integrated Action Plan, IAP, a specially conceived development programme for the worst Naxal-affected districts, for four more years with annual allocation of one thousand crore rupees. The aim of this initiative is to provide public infrastructure and services in Maoist-affected districts.

According to official sources, each of the 82 IAP districts will be given 5 crore rupees annually while remaining 590 crore rupees will be distributed among the districts on the basis of their population and area.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are the nine states covered under the plan.