Naxalism is a wake up call for democracy: Pillai

"Maoism or Naxalism is a wake up call for India's democracy. I think today the major political parties in India have still not realised the magnitude of the problem.

"They have not woken up to the fact that this is a very serious problem which has to be tackled not just by security, not just by development, but also by very serious political management of the situation," Pillai said.

He was speaking at a round table discussion on 'State's Response to Hostage Situations' organised by the India Foundation yesterday.

Blaming the rise of Naxalism on poor governance, he said that the ratio of government services to the population is extremely poor.

"There are many basic developmental issues which we have left unresolved for long and it forces people to look for the other ways and gives rise to Naxalism. We have serious issues of governance," he said.

"It is a wake up call for democracy, it is a wake up call for the state governments and the central government. There is shortage of teachers, doctors, nurses; you have to get that act together and if you do not, you get into trouble."

Echoing his sentiments, former chief secretary, government of Madhya Pradesh, Nirmala Buch, who played a crucial role in securing the release of abducted Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, said there is a problem of grievance redressal mechanism. MORE