Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Tuesday called upon tribal youth, who were still pursuing the wrong path, to join the mainstream for the speedy development of the state.
The chief minister was speaking after welcoming 88 militants of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), who surrendered arms, in Dhalai district's Ambassa.
"Todays surrender of 88 NLFT militants proves that the path they had adopted long ago was not the right one. Now, time has come for those, who are still misguided, to join hands to speed up development to make Tripura the best," he said.
Criticising the previous governments for having neglected the welfare of the indigenous people, the chief minister said, "With Modjis slogan 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas', we want to boost the socio-economic condition of the tribals."
A process has been initiated to raise two Indian Reserve (IR) battalions for the state which would create 2,200 jobs, he said.
"The surrender of the 88 NLFT militants will ensure lasting peace in the state. If peace prevails, the state will prosper," Deb said.
The surrendered insurgents deposited three carbines, one mortar, six SLRs and four Chinese rifles.
The NLFT surrender comes after the Centre, the state and the insurgent outfit signed an Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) in New Delhi on August 10.
As per the MoS terms, the surrendered militants will be rehabilitated as per the package announced by the Union Home Ministry, a senior police official said.
This is the first major surrender of militants after the BJP-IPFT government came to power in March 2018 and the third since Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwl-led Tripura National Volunteer (TNV) and Ranjit Debbarma-led All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) laid down arms in 1988 and 1993 respectively.
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