Empower the people: PM on Naxal issue

The Union government on Tuesday described the problem of violent Left extremism as the worst one in the country, greater than even those of terrorism or insurgency. Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P Chidambaram underlined the need to win the trust of people to end this problem.

While the PM cited the example of a civil society group, the Ramakrishna Mission, as an example of truthful service to the young collectors gathered from Naxal-affected districts, Chidambaram said the administration in these areas faced the challenge of winning the hearts and minds of people.

Addressing a workshop of collectors of 60 districts affected by Left extremism to dicusss the Integrated Action Plan in this regard, the PM said that no amount of funds would do for any area unless the people's trust was won. And, this was best done by putting people's development in the hands of the people, meaning the people should own the programmes and local bodies should have more say in matters. That should be the new slogan for development, the Prime Minister said, and called for an approach of giving maximum freedom to people's representatives to make changes in programmes..

He gave the example of the Ramakrishna Mission, which runs hospitals and even fair price shops at Naxal-affected Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, as an example of how institutions can personify trust and truthfulness. "That is the kind of trust needed in the districts. We have to ensure delivery of development programmes with honesty, we should demolish the wall between us and them." He said the people could recognise honesty when they saw it.

'HEARTS & MINDS'
Earlier, the home minister said the demands for providing more forces and battalions could not be satisfied beyond a point and the real battle was not one of forces but of winning the hearts and minds of the people, so that they could believe the administration was with them, rather than against them. The sentiment was echoed by minister of road transport and highways, C P Joshi, who said people in tribal areas saw the police as a symbol of exploitation.

The workshop was organised to discuss the problems faced by district heads in Naxal-affected districts in implementing rural development programmes under the IAP. A committe of the collector, the district police head and the forest officer are free to decide how to spend a sum of Rs 30 crore annually on needs identified by the people. The main focus of IAP has been on implementation of rural development programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and the Indira Awas Yojana.

The workshop decided to look at the possibility of developing roads in all habitations, irrespective of the number of people in them. It also considered the possibility of enforcing IAP at the block, rather than the district level, from next year. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who brought together all the district collectors for the workshop, said the PMGSY was the most vital programme for Naxal-hit areas but it was almost impossible to reach targets in the near future. So, he has proposed finishing the targets in IAP districts in three years, with an additional funding of Rs 35,000 crore. He said the PM would take up the matter with the finance minister. He also plans to set up para-legal centres linked to law schools, which would settle land disputes in IAP districts without delay. These would be modelled on the ones existing in Andhra Pradesh, he said.