Bhubaneswar, Aug 7 - The Orissa government Friday decided to recruit 3,500 young tribals as special police officers (SPO) to tackle the Maoist menace in the state.

'I had a review meeting relating to Maoist related violence. It has been decided that an additional 3,500 young tribals would be recruited in the police force,' Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.

At present the state has about 2,100 SPOs.

'It has also been decided to set up a constable training centre with a capacity of 1,000 trainees. It will start functioning by this year end,' Patnaik said.