Ch'garh cabinet approves anti-naxal policy changes, journalists safety bill

The Chhattisgarh government on Friday made changes in its anti-Naxalite policy related to compensation and other facilities, and also approved the draft of a bill that aims to enshrine protection of mediapersons in law.

A key change in the policy will enable the family of a person from outside Chhattisgarh to receive compensation in case of death in Naxalite violence in the insurgency-affected state.

These decisions were taken by the state cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the Assembly premises here. Informing reporters about the cabinet decisions, state urban administration minister Shivkumar Dahariya said the draft of the 'Chhattisgarh Mediapersons Protection Bill 2023' was approved in the meeting and its details will be known once it is tabled in the Assembly during the ongoing Budget session. Similarly, some provisions related to compensation and other facilities were amended by the cabinet in the state government's policy on elimination of Naxalism, he said. Earlier, there was no provision for compensation to the kin of anyone who comes from other state to Chhattisgarh and gets killed in Maoist violence. But under the amended policy, provision for compensation has been made in such cases, the minister said. Other details of the policy will be disclosed later, Dahariya said. Besides, the Chhattisgarh Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Salary, Allowance and Pension of Members of Chhattisgarh Assembly (Amendment) Bill 2023 were among other bills approved by the cabinet, he said. The cabinet also decided to appoint badminton player Akarshi Kashyap, a silver medallist in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a resident of Durg district, as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Class II Gazetted), Dahariya said.