C'garh police take radio route to combat Naxalism

Fighting the Naxal menace for over past three decades, the Chhattisgarh police is now trying to reach out to the people via radio and win their confidence in the insurgency-hit areas.
The police department has produced nearly a dozen jingles in local dialects - Chhattisgarhi, Halbi and Gondi-and Hindi to counter the propaganda of outlawed CPI (Maoist).
"Radio is an effective medium to reach out to the people in the interiors of Maoist-hit regions, particularly Bastar. The aim is to communicate our message to each and every villager of Bastar that how they have been deprived of growth benefits due to insurgency," Inspector General of Police (intelligence wing) Deepanshu Kabra told PTI.

By way of jingles, the police are appealing to the Naxals to quit their movement and join the mainstream and at the same time they are informing the villagers about the importance of education and development, he said.
The interactive jingles contain conversations between villagers and the village head in which the latter explains how the Left Wing Extremists are misguiding tribals by encouraging them to join the violent armed movement.
It also highlights how the Maoists' activities are an obstacle in the path of growth and thwarting the development of schools, hospitals and panchayat bhawan in the region.

The All India Radio (AIR) has started airing the jingles from its sub-station at Jagdalpur district headquarters from last month. They are being aired at every half-an-hour from morning till evening, Kabra said.

Chhattisgarh's former DGP Vishwaranjan hailed the idea as a good initiative and said it would be fruitful in weaning the villagers away from the Maoist ideology.
"It's a good idea to draw the attention of the villagers towards mainstream. Its results would be witnessed in the near future," he said.