Puppet shows and mobile phones help development efforts in Odisha's Maoist corridor

Activists are using puppetry as a medium to spread awareness about the use of technology for development in the Maoist-hit areas of Odisha.

Volunteers of a non governmental organisation (NGO) CGnet Swara recently held puppet shows on the streets of Malkangiri District to make tribals aware about the correct use of technology in times of trouble.

Puppet shows were conducted to educate the locals about usage of mobile phones as a medium to get connected with people across the country.

Tribals were taught how to record their messages on mobile phones to relate various problems faced by them.

The messages are then sent to an NGO, which then verifies the complaint and makes reports, which are then made available to journalists and policy makers to work out a solution.

The activists said the organisation was trying its best to reach out to tribals and educate them for expediting developmental work in the area.

"Where our fellow brothers and journalist friends are actually not able to reach, to take all the problems of the people from the remote places, the people in this area are facing trouble in their lives that is being recorded on their mobiles and has to be given to the district administration," said the head of the CGnet Swara Cultural Team, Gaukaran Singh.

The drive has come as a beacon of hope for inhabitants of the region who have faced many problems. Naxal activity in the region has been a hindrance to the development in the area.

"Now, we know that due to the presence of Naxalites in this region, our progress has been hindered" said a local tribal resident, Sagar Sarium.

Odisha is considered a part of the 'Red Corridor' of eastern India, an area which has a very high level of Maoist insurgency running along states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.