Funds will be part of the proposed integrated action plan.
Home Minister P Chidambaram today announced an additional funding of Rs 45-50 crore every year for each of the 35 districts critically affected by Left-wing Extremism (LWE). The funds will be part of the integrated action plan that the government is expected to approve soon.
“We requested the Planning Commission to make block grants available to the respective district administrations for priority areas like primary education, connectivity, communication, healthcare, drinking water and sanitation. This year, the funds being made available will be Rs 45-50 crore, as each district can’t absorb more than this,” Chidambaram said while addressing the ‘National Conference on Forestry Administration in LWE Affected Areas’ here today.
The plan envisages continuous efforts to improve governance like implementation of Panchayats Extension (to Schedule Areas) Act of 1996 to give tribals the right to use minor forest produce.
“The government has a two-pronged approach towards the problem of Naxalism. However much we may romanticise life in the forests, we must remember that they will remain poor as long as they live the same way they have lived. Second, LWE has no place in a democracy. We are working out a strategy with the forest department to deal with this problem. There is an inherent conflict in maintaining status quo, that is poverty,” he added.
He noted, “This is not to criticise the detailed Planning Commission plans. But, the fact is that the interventions we have been contemplating and executing are most likely not improving the human development index of the population living in these naxal-affected areas. Nothing that we are doing is making any significant change in their lives.”
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“We don’t need an integrated action plan just for LWE affected areas but for all the real backward districts. In fact, we need better integrated district plans,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Commission. He added that road development and clearance should be given priority, for which the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana needed flexibility.
“We will have something for this year and then extend it to three more years. We expect a note on this next week. The existing schemes are not working well and we’ll have to address the problem in a systemic manner by offering a three-fold solution comprising governance, empowerment and security as a precondition for development. There is governance failure across the board, especially in forested areas,” added Ahluwalia.
Chidambaram also dispelled the myth that larger the population of scheduled tribes (ST), greater is the potential for support to Naxalites. The facts speak otherwise, he said, giving example of Sonebhadra district in Uttar Pradesh, where the ST population is merely 0.03 per cent. Forest areas, forest dwellers and perhaps abject poverty were the reasons for such extremism, he said, pointing that there was a conflict in the way each law had been drafted and operated.
“The Forest Conservation Act, which regulates all non-forest activity, will not act as a constraint for such public infrastructure expansion in LWE areas. Moreover, the home minister should discuss forestry in such areas with the chief ministers.
Also, the joint forest management committees must be linked with gram sabhas and local communities,” said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who was also present at the conference and emphasised the problem of intensity of Naxal violence in zones that cut across state boundaries.