Rajnath Singh pledges to root out Naxalism, says it impedes development

He said it is unfortunate that Naxal leaders lead a lavish life and exploit children of the poor and the downtrodden

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said Naxalites create hurdles in the path of development and the Centre is committed to rooting out the menace.

"Naxalites give guns in the hands of the children of the poor and create hurdles in the development of remote areas. They try to misguide the poor and the tribals. They do not give guns to their own children. We have end this. The Centre is committed to rooting out Naxalism from the country", Singh said.

Addressing an event to mark the Raghubar Das government's 1,000 days in office today, Singh said Naxalites who wish to lay down arms can do so in accordance with the surrender policies of the states concerned. Their surrender, he said, will be considered "case by case".

The home minister said the Modi government wants to root out poverty from the country, but some people were impeding its efforts.

Singh said it is unfortunate that the top naxal leaders lead a lavish life and exploit children of the poor and the downtrodden. "We will not let this happen anymore", he said.

He said Jharkhand was created by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee because it has immense potential for development. Today, he said, he is happy at seeing development taking place in different parts of the state.

He said that it is encouraging to see that today Jharkhand is the second fastest growing state with SGDP at 8.6 per cent. The minister said he expects it to be in double digits by 2019.

"Now even foreigners are coming to Jharkhand to invest and all this happened because of the developmental activities and policy reforms by the Raghubar Das government, he said.

Citing an example, he said in terms of ease of doing business, the state has climbed up from 29th place in the top 7th, which is a big jump. This has happened because of the charismatic leadership of Chief Minister Raghubar Das, he said.

He said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to the devolution of power and development of Jharkhand. This is the reason why it has increased the states share in central funds from the earlier 32 per cent to 42 per cent.

Because of this increase, states like Jharkhand have benefited the most. Its share in the central funds, he said, has gone up from Rs 55,253 crore to 1.25 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission.

Singh said both Central and the Jharkhand governments have been free from corruption charges.