Under pressure to crack down on a Maoist rebellion, Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, will review counter-insurgency plans at a meeting with state chief ministers to be held on April 13.

In the wake of a recent hijacking of a train by Maoists in the northern state of Jharkand and the storming of a jail in neighbouring Bihar, Mr Singh has been criticised for failing to prevent the collapse of local government in vast swathes of the country.