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Two weeks after Chhattisgarh was declared "Naxal-free", Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has signalled a decisive shift from internal security operations to large-scale rural development and rehabilitation of surrendered Maoists. The chief minister's ambitious plans also includes developing Bastar, once identified as a hotbed of Naxal violence, as a tourist destination, besides promoting agricultural activities in the region. In an interview to PTI recently in New Delhi, the chief minister credited the "double-engine government" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the strategic deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the successful eradication of decades-old Naxal insurgency. The 62-year-old Sai, who spent his formative years in the fields of Bagia village to sustain his family following his father's death when he was just 10, feels a sense of relief that Chhattisgarh is finally free of the menace of Naxalism, which had been hindering the state's progress. "There was a ti
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Chhattisgarh on Saturday to take part in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the state's formation, and inaugurate or lay the foundation stones for development projects worth Rs 14,260 crore, officials said. Chhattisgarh, earlier part of Madhya Pradesh, was carved out as a state on November 1, 2000. The PM will arrive here at 9.40 am and head for Shri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, where he will interact with 2,500 children who have been successfully treated for congenital heart diseases in the 'Gift of life' ceremony, an official statement said. Later, at around 10.45 AM, he will inaugurate 'Shanti Shikhar' of Brahma Kumaris, a "modern centre for spiritual learning, peace, and meditation", it said. Thereafter he will unveil a statue of former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the premises of the newly built Chhattisgarh assembly in Nava Raipur. Modi will also inaugurate the new assembly building .
As many as 103 Naxalites, 49 of them carrying a collective bounty of more than Rs 1 crore, surrendered before authorities in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, a police official said. The cadres, including 22 women, turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials, citing disappointment with "hollow" Maoist ideology and differences within the banned outfit CPI (Maoist), Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Yadav said. This was perhaps one of the largest-ever surrenders by Left-wing extremists in a single day in Chhattisgarh. They were also impressed with development works being carried out in the Bastar region and decided to eschew the path of armed rebellion, he said. The cadres said they were particularly impressed by "Poona Margem (Rehabilitation for Social Reintegration) - a rehabilitation initiative launched by Bastar Range police for Naxalites, 'Niyad Nellanar' (your good village) scheme of the Chhattisgarh ...