Bastar Entering a New Era

Bastar takes a new shape with fruits of development reaching new heights, leaving behind the notorious perception of Maoism

The hands which used to raise a few years back to beg for mercy for their family members being tried in the Kangaru courts by Naxals, now raise for selling milk, farm and forest products to the five star hotels of Mumbai and Chennai. The regions of Chhattisgarh, particularly Bastar, Abhujmarh, Jagdalpur and Dantewada which were forced to live under the weapons of Naxals are now scripting new chapters of development. The credit for this change goes to the state government led by Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh.

In order to apprise the countrymen of this wonderful change in Bastar region, Hindusthan Samachar, the leading multilingual News Agency, organised Bastar Vikas Samvad (Bastar Development Dialogue) in Jagdalpur on August 24. Interacting with the people, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh said Bastar region is taking a new shape with fruits of development reaching new heights, leaving behind its popular perception of Maoism. He said Bastar is now a peaceful place and has the potential of being developed as a major tourist destination. “We have constructed about 1,800 km of roads and have electrified almost all the villages. Besides that, health, education and connectivity have improved a lot in the entire region,” he added.

Recalling the sacrifices made for the development of the region, he pointed out that it took four years to construct 15 km roads initially and during the process at least nine security personnel sacrificed their lives. “It is easy to construct roads in plain areas, but very tough in difficult terrains. No one had dared to take the risk of constructing roads. Even if some construction company came forward, it left the work mid-way and fled due to security concerns. These issues increased the cost of the construction,” he added.

The Chief Minister said with development taking new shape in Bastar region its greenery, the natural beauty and most importantly the connectivity, all have the potential to develop the region as a major tourist destination. “Bastar region is entering a new era. A BPO, which is not less than any BPO of Bengaluru, is active in Jangla of Bastar. Bastar is a model for Aspirational Districts of the state,” he said urging the media not to present Bastar through the prism of Maoism only. “Maoism has gone away now and Bastar is peaceful. People of the region hate violence. We are leaving no stone unturned to change the face of Bastar,” he added.

Shri RK Sinha, chairman of the Hindusthan Samachar and Rajya Sabha MP, lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh saying he has changed the face of Bastar with his positive vision. “The media always highlights the negative things, but as far as my view is concerned, it should also focus on positive things if a government is working hard for developing the most backward region,” he said. He pointed out that the Hindusthan Samachar organised similar development dialogue in Raipur sometime back. He said the news agency is planning to have similar development dialogues at district level also in coming days.

Earlier, initiating the discussion senior journalist and chief editor of Hindusthan Samachar Shri NK Singh described Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh as epitome of development. He said development in difficult terrains is a challenge and the Dr Raman Singh government has successfully done it in the state. Senior journalist Shri Ramesh Nayer, while applauding the efforts of Dr Raman Singh said the HDI of the region was at stagnation for the last 28 years, but he has changed that substantially through his honest efforts.

Special issue of Yugvarta, a publication of Hindusthan Samachar, dedicated to development of Bastar, was released on the occasion.