Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday said his government is committed to expediting the expansion of rail, road and telecom connectivity and other developmental work in the Maoist-hit areas of the state.

He was talking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the unified command here to review the security situation and development-related initiatives in left-wing extremism (LWE)-hit pockets in Chhattisgarh.

“The meeting of unified command is generally convened once a year. Our home minister, chief secretary, director-general of police (DGP) and senior officials were present. We held an elaborate discussion on Naxalism and reviewed the status of developmental works of different departments in the affected areas,” Sai said.

After the BJP returned to power in Chhattisgarh six months ago, Sai said, his government has been fighting strongly against the Naxal menace. Security forces have also achieved significant success in anti-Naxal operations during this period, he said.

Asked about the anti-Naxal strategy discussed in the meeting, the CM said, “It is fortunate that there is a ‘double engine’ government (BJP in state and Centre) and Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji has already chaired a meeting here in January (on anti-Naxal front) and given necessary instructions.”

The CM said they want to take development to everyone. “Even villagers want to be associated with the mainstream of growth,” he said.

New security camps have been set up in many places and the government is trying to ensure that basic amenities and benefits of welfare projects reach Naxal-affected villages through its ‘Niyad Nellanar’ scheme, he said.

“The effort is to expedite works related to road, rail and telecom connectivity in those areas and ensure that there is no shortage of resources for any work there,” he added.

Deputy CM Vijay Sharma, who also holds the home portfolio, Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain, DGP Ashok Juneja, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Manoj Kumar Pingua and senior officials of state police and central armed forces, including CRPF, BSF and ITBP, and Indian Air Force attended the meeting, officials said.

More than 130 Naxalites have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh.