Raipur, Aug 18 - The time has come for a 'direct fight on three fronts' to counter the Maoist menace in the country, according to Raman Singh, chief minister of India's worst Maoist-hit state of Chhattisgarh.

Singh, who was speaking at a meet in New Delhi Monday, also said that leftwing extremism should be considered a national calamity.

'The time has come for a direct fight on three fronts to counter Naxalites,' the 57-year-old Singh told a conference of chief ministers on internal security in New Delhi that was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

'In view of the comprehensiveness of the Maoist problem in Chhattisgarh, the security forces should be allowed for direct action against Maoists -- besides socio-economic and infrastructure development of the affected areas and also effectively countering the Maoists' international propaganda which is being used to justify the violence and their movement,' Singh told the meet.