Naxalites impede development, will be rooted out: Rajnath

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today 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 to 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, would 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 the 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 had an immense potential for development. Today, he said, he was happy at seeing development taking place in different parts of the state.

He said it was encouraging to see that today Jharkhand was the second fastest growing state with the SGDP at 8.6 per cent. The minister said he expected 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 had climbed up from the 29th to seventh place in the country, which was a big jump. This had happened because of the charismatic leadership of Chief Minister Raghubar Das, he added.
He said the Narendra Modi government was committed to devolution of power and development of Jharkhand. This was the reason why it had increased the state's share in the 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, had gone up from Rs 55,253 crore to 1.25 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission.
Singh also said both the central and the Jharkhand governments had been free from corruption charges.