Naxals hurting economy, C'garh CM tells Gujarat

Terming Naxalism menace as a big challenge for the infrastructure development of his State, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday said that Naxalite movement is in fact making huge impact on the GDP of Chhattisgarh.   Singh was talking to mediapersons at Ahmedabad on the sidelines of a training programme for Chhattisgarh Government’s senior officials on infrastructure development under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). During the three-day workshop, the officials from Chhattisgarh will learn and understand nuances of PPP model.

According to the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, as Naxalites are constantly damaging infrastructure in the State, his Government has to spend huge amount of money to rebuild it. Giving instance of the construction of 17 km road in the Naxal-prone area, he said that it took two years and lives of five Jawans! “We are spending mammoth amount of money to reconstruct those roads and bridges frequently blown up by the Naxals.

“Besides, we have to spend money on inducting more police forces to counter Naxalites. The same money could have been spent for plethora of developmental works. Currently, Chhattisgarh is having around 67000 personnel in police force, said Singh, adding that, but when he took over as the Chief Minister, there were nearly 23000 policemen in the force,” he informed.

Showing optimism he, however, said that he envisages finding ways for the problem as development is the key to sort out all problems and answer to the ongoing Naxal movement. Banking upon increasing connectivity, he said connectivity would benefit everybody, even those who are fighting against the Government.

Singh indicated that his Government would like to introduce PPP model in sectors like education, health, public distribution system and procurement of agriculture commodities apart from infrastructure in order to lessen the burden on the State Government. He said the some projects based on PPP model are already in pipeline and one of these projects is a 450 km long railway corridor in Chhattisgarh  which would cost Rs 8000 crores.

 On his Gujarat visit, Singh and his senior officials have planned to visit two pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project on the banks of River Sabarmati flowing from the heart of Ahmedabad as well as Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT City) on the outskirts of the State Capital, Gandhinagar. Singh also met Gujarat Chief Minster Anandiben Patel.