As part of the new anti-Naxal policy of the Centre, affected State Governments will identify three to four locations, preferably villages and small towns in each of the 35 worst-hit districts for creation of development hubs.
The existing schools, medical infrastructure, banking/postal services, telephone connectivity, road connectivity and skill building interventions will be upgraded and special emphasis will be laid on skill development.
These hubs will have high schools with adequate hostel and residential facilities besides centres for vocational training.
The upgradation of facilities will be undertaken through suitable innovations in the existing schemes, utilizing funds allocated under the Additional Central Assistance (ACA) and through convergence of different schemes.
The Department of School Education and literacy will recognise the existing schools and allow necessary relaxations for providing enhanced funding from the Centre under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for these development hubs.
“The idea behind this intervention is to attract beneficiaries from interior and inaccessible areas so that they can avail of public goods and services,” a senior official said.
With a view to counter Naxalism effectively, the ACA that is being implemented in 88 affected districts will be made more effective. Under ACA, Rs30 crore per year is given to each of these districts for expenditure on important development-related projects identified by a committee comprising DMs, SPs and DFOs.
The scheme will be implemented by the Union Home Ministry and blocks will be taken as units for development. The move comes since there was sub-optimal implementation of the schemes as the projects were taken up in lesser affected parts of the Naxal-hit districts.
The scheme will now be implemented in the worst-affected blocks (and not districts) to be identified by the Union Home Ministry. Around 10 per cent of the ACA funds would be permitted to be utilised for hiring professionals like doctors, teachers and engineers among others to quell the deficiencies of such professionals. “This will be a useful mechanism to service the development hubs,” the official added.
The ACA funds will be released to the States in one installment so the projects undertaken do suffer any financial constraints.
Presently, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar are considered as “severely” hit, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana rated to be “partially” affected and Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh categorized as “slightly” affected by Naxal violence.
The core of Maoist insurgency lies in 35 districts including Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui, Muzaffarpur, Banka and Nawada (Bihar), Bijapur, Sukma, Bastar, Dantewada, Kanker, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon and Kondagaon in Chhattisgarh. In Jharkhand, Giridih, Gumla, Khunti, latehar, Palamu, East Singhbhum, Ranchi, Garhwa, Dumka, Ramgarh, lohardaga and Simdega are affected. Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra, Koraput and Malkangiri in Odisha and Khammam in Telangana are also hit by ultra-left extremism.
These districts will also be the focal points of the State’s security response against Maoist insurgency.
Aiming financial inclusion of the people in the affected States, the Department of Posts and Department of Financial Services will review the existing policy and rules particularly with reference to sparse population density in affected areas. “The criterion for having a minimum population for a post office or bank branch will be relaxed and such a branch will be opened in every Panchayat in such areas,” the official pointed out.
Following the formation of the CPI (Maoist) in 2004, Naxal violence witnessed an upsurge and the trend continued till 2010, which saw the highest level of violence, resulting in 1005 killings (720 civilians and 285 security personnel).
During the period, the number of Naxals killed also rose - from 84 in 2004 to 172 in 2010. The deployment of Central paramilitary forces in Naxal areas increased from 33 battalions in 2007-08 to 90 battalions in 2013-14. Currently, 102 battalions, including CoBRA battalions are deployed in this theatre.