Maoists anti-poor, stalling progress: Rajnath

Calling Maoists as ‘anti-poor’, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that they create hurdles in development by stalling the developmental works in rural areas which ultimately affects the people living in villages, whom they claim their supports base.

Praising the steps taken by the Jharkhand Government to eradicate Naxalism from the State, Singh said that the dedication level of this Government as well as the officials was commendable.

Singh, while holding a review meeting on Left Wing Extremism here, also added that the Maoists have earned crores of rupees through extortion and send their children abroad for studying, but the villagers still remain poor. The Union Home Minister after the meeting left for Palamu to attend a personal programme.

“Whether it is a matter of extortion by Maoists, coordination between the Centre and the State or meetings regularly held by the unified command, Jharkhand is number one in the country,” said Singh. He also appreciated the works done in Jharkhand under the leadership of Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

“During the meeting with the Chief Minister, I realized that the officials were also committed towards ending the LWE in the State, which I  believe will definitely be fulfilled,” said the Union Home Minister.

Singh, however, was opposed to the idea of removing Maoism though violence, but the security forces have to take offensive action to save their lives when attacked which was unfortunate.

Singh said that the Government was ready for talks with them with a pre-condition that they will have to shun violence and drop their guns.

“Jharkhand Government has been doing a commendable job towards eradication of Naxalism in the State and has achieved more than expected in a short span of time. Being a Home Minister, it is a matter of proud for me and Chief Minster must be praised for that,” said Singh.

The Union Home Minister also praised the infrastructure made available for the CRPF in the State and said that it indicates how serious the State Government was for eradication of Naxalism from the State. Singh also suggested the State Government to make use of advance technology for intelligence networks for which the Centre was ready to provide all possible support to it.

When asked about the tenure of BJP Government during the last 4 years, Singh said that no one can question the intention of the Government as no charges of corruption was made against it.

“Though the Opposition has been making allegations against the Government regarding the works done by it, but no allegations of corruption could be made against it,” said the Union Home Minister. He also claimed that there has been a remarkable drop in the number of incidents related to violence and a decrease of 75 per cent Maoist incidents has been registered in North East.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das, talking to media persons after the meeting, said that the State Government has been focusing on developmental works in the LWE affected districts in the State due to which it has also succeeded in winning the confidence of the people

“Locals have helped a lot to overpower the problem of the Naxalism in the State and the State Government has been working towards becoming the first State to eradicate Maoism from the State,” said Das.

Issues like Patthalgadi, checking economic resources of Maoists were also taken up during the meeting, which was attended among others by Senior Advisor of Ministry of Home Affairs K Vijay Kumar, Chief Secretary Sudhir Tripaty, Principal Secretary (Home) SKG Rahate, DGP DK Pandey and DG (CRPF) Rajiv Bhatnagar.