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As far as the
revolutionary people’s forces are concerned it maters little which Party is in
power. Whether it is the AIDMK in Tamil Nadu, or the CPM in West Bengal, the
Congress in Chattisgarh and Maharashtra, or the BJP in Jarkhand — all have been
attacking the people’s revolutionary movement with different degrees of
ferocity.
Over the last two
years, ever since the formation of the new state of Chattisgarh, though the
people have been reeling under a severe drought, the Ajit Jogi Congress (I)
government has done nothing for the masses. On the contrary it has spent a
massive Rs. 80 crores on building up the police forces in the state to suppress
them. It has raised three new battalions. Two of these have received training by
the AP Greyhounds. The third battalion comprises local tribal youth from Bastar.
A policy of recruiting tribals to kill tribals. The recruitments have taken
place from areas where the PW has not yet extended its influence. With this huge
growth in the police forces, the three police districts in the Bastar region
have now been increased to five. In Dec.2002, Narainpur was made into a separate
police district, with six PSs and 2 SDPO posts. Recently a special IG, for anti-naxalite
operations, was appointed for the Dantewada region, in the heart of the naxalite
area.
Besides the increase
in the police forces there has been extensive up gradation of these forces.
2,137 quarters have been built for the police; 255 PS’s have been allotted
vehicles; 20 new PSs are being built, and 94 PSs are being renovated and
fortified. It is clear that the Chattisgarh government is planning for a major
offensive against the PW.
Together with this
planned police offensive, the Jogi government has initiated a massive
development plan for the Bastar division, which includes the three districts of
Kanker, Bastar and Dantewada. It has already allocated Rs. 242 crores for the
laying of roads in the divisions to enable the quick movement of police forces
into the interiors. This is in addition to the funds provided for works already
going on. An additional grant of Rs.22 lakhs has been allocated to the Ram
Krishna mission that has a network of five hospital/schools in the Maad region,
with headquarters at Narayanpur.
But, these are the
additional expenses. The main package announced by Jogi on Jan.7 is worth
several hundred crores, and includes the setting up of a university in Jagdalpur
from the next academic session, introduction of ‘ashrams’ for primary education,
and upgrading health services, besides announcing Bastar as the focal point of
State tourism. The Government will also open two hostels at Raipur exclusively
for the students of the Bastar division, interested in pursuing higher
education. All PHCs will be provided the latest medical facilities and the
District hospitals will be provided with CT-Scans. In addition it has approved a
hundred-bed hospital for Kondagaon. It has also decided to form cooperatives for
tendu leaf marketing doing away with contractors. Finally, the government has
decided to hold Cabinet meetings in far-flung areas to increase the reach of the
reactionary rulers.
So, the police
offensive is to be combined with a development plan only for this region, to try
and win over the masses from the influence of the PW. The overall expenditure in
the Bastar division will be around a gigantic of Rs.1,000 crores. This amount is
purely for counter-insurgency operations as part of its multi-pronged attack
against the PW, along the lines already adopted in AP by the Chandrababu Naidu
government.
Besides this, the
Centre has come with a massive plan for anti-Naxalite operations throughout the
country, starting with Chattisgarh. It has embarked on a state-by-state analysis
of the issue. This will involve visits by senior Home Ministry & Planning
Commission officials to the States of Bihar, AP, Jarkhand, Chattisgarh, MP,
Maharashtra, West Bengal, Orissa and UP. Discussions with top officials of the
State will be held to study the specificity of the Naxalites in the particular
State and plan coordinated action.
A beginning has
already been made in mid-January 2003, by the visit of a team to Raipur for
action in Chattisgarh. The next State planned to be taken up is Orissa. This
State-by-State focus comes even as the Centre recently increased the number of
districts entitled to an annual assistance of Rs. 5 crore for the next three
years from 43 to 45 — of these 10 new districts, 8 are from Jarkhand and two
from Chattisgarh.
The very fact that
this State-to-State plan involves the Home Ministry(HM) + Planning(PC)
Commission shows that the Government’s Gun and Reform policy will go
hand-in-hand. The HM will supply the gun and bullets; the PC will supply the
money to try and wean away the masses from the influence of the Maoists.
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