Shah opens 1st security camp-turned-public service centre

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday inaugurated the first security camp-turned-public service centre in a remote village in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, heralding a new development chapter in the State recently declared Naxal violence-free after decades of extremism.

The minister said 70 out of the total 196 security forces camps located in the erstwhile Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of the State will be transformed into ‘Seva camps’ (public service centres) over the next one-and-a-half years.

Officials said that the event heralds the launch of the Bastar 2.0 road map, where security camps will be “repurposed” for public welfare utility works, an essential plan of action of the Union and State Government to ensure Maoism never returns to these areas due to a lack of development.

Shah is on a three-day visit to the central Indian State, his first after the Union Government declared the end of LWE from the country in March. He reached the State Capital Raipur on Sunday night, over 300 km from here.

The minister opened the ‘Jan Suvidha Kendra’ (public service centre) co-located inside the ‘Bravo’ company campus of the CRPF’s 80th battalion in Netanar village.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) established the camp in 2013 as an operations base, and it has now shared a part of this facility for the creation of the service centre.

“This is a revolutionary event that has taken place today with the inauguration of this camp in the name of Shaheed Veer (martyr) Gundadhur of this region. Once, six policemen were killed at this place, and hospitals and schools were destroyed by the Naxalites.

“I promise we will bring the State Government sitting in Raipur to your doorstep within the next one-and-a-half years,” Shah said.

Out of the 196 security camps in this region, 70 will be transformed as ‘Seva camps’ in the next one-and-a-half years, he said.

Shah said the National Institute of Design (NID) has been tasked to prepare a model for these ‘Seva camps’, which will not only provide all kinds of Government services to the public but also help in skilling locals for self-employment.

He added that a cooperative society model for dairy and minor forest produce will be developed for the tribals of the Bastar region, which comprises seven districts, including the district named Bastar itself.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said during the event that Shah has ensured that development is ushered in the Bastar region with the end of about four decades of violent Naxalism. Deputy CM and Home Minister of Chhattisgarh Vijay Sharma was also present during the event.

A senior State Government officer said the earmarked camps of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in Chhattisgarh are being gradually “repurposed” and transformed from being a base for armed operations to becoming platforms of public service by the State Government in coordination with the Union Home Ministry.

A ‘Jan Suvidha Kendra’ will act like a Common Service Centre (CSC) for people to provide services such as Aadhaar updates, banking facilities, applications for income, caste and domicile certificates, ration card services, Ayushman Bharat cards, e-Shram registration, electricity bill payment, online applications, railway and bus ticket booking, he said.

State Government and Union Home Ministry officials added that the centres will also train locals in various livelihood skills with the help of self-help groups (SHGs).

“The Jan Suvidha Kendra initiative is significant for villages where people have to travel long distances for availing the benefits of basic Government schemes or services,” a second State Government officer said.

Pinki Naag, a woman from Netanar village, said that she began training for stitching at the service centre on May 13, and she aims to earn Rs 6,000 per month through this skill.

“The security camps that once strategised anti-Naxal operations will soon be synonymous with portals of development. The Netanar camp will show the way forward,” Neetu Sethia, who works with a local SHG, said after the inauguration.

Official data States that 536 Maoists were killed, 2,943 surrendered, and 2,039 were arrested during the last two-and-a-half years by the central and State security forces in Chhattisgarh, once categorised as the worst Naxal violence-affected State of the country.