Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister (CM) Vishnu Deo Sai on Monday, January 13 termed ‘Maoism as cancer’ and emphasized on the need to strike at its core to end the menace once and for all. Sai was addressing a function after inaugurating and laying foundation stones of several development projects in Bastar’s Sukma district.
“Maoism is like cancer. If cancer has to be eradicated, it is necessary to attack its root. Maoists had latched onto certain areas of Bastar like leeches, terrorising and exploiting local residents. These location served as there safest places but our security forces has made a decisive move by entering the Maoist’s den and confront them,” said a government release quoting CM Sai.
Hailing the indomitable courage of the security forces, CM Sai further remarked that “the forces have successfully entered the Maoist’s stronghold and defeated them, eliminating over 230 Maoists in various encounters in the past one year alone.”
While acknowledging how the Maoist violence had engulfed the Bastar division, severely hampering its development, CM Sai underscored the crucial decisions taken by his government along with its swift implementation in the past one year.
“Under a well-planned strategy, security camps were expanded the Maoist-affected area, strengthening the security network. Now the Maoists have been confined to a very limited area and are acting out of desperation, resulting in cowardly acts,” said the CM further.
Referring to the recent IED blast which resulted in martyrdom of eight DRG (District Reserve Guard) personnel CM Sai said “those martyred in the attack were sons of Bastar’s soil. We took a pledge in Sukma’s soil that we will eradicate the Maoism from its roots and avenge the martyrdom of the fallen heroes.”
CM Sai also talked about the Niyad Nellanar scheme (a flagship scheme launched by the incumbent government meaning yours good village) aimed at providing the benefits of government welfare schemes to the residents of villages falling under five-kilometers radius of security camps erected in far-fledged violence-hit areas.
He further underscored that while the Maoists used the best weapons and modern communication equipment for themselves, they had terrorised rural areas to such an extent that local residents remained deprived of even basic amenities like television.
“Even the village of a Maoist commander, Puvarti was deprived of development for years. The residents had never seen electricity or television. Now the village is illuminated with solar lights and after 78 years of independence people watched television for the first time which seemed miraculous to them,” said CM Sai while asserting that children can now study and join the mainstream of development.
