Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sent the country’s senior-most bureaucrat to the Naxalite-affected states to take stock of the situation and find out why the government’s policy to rein in the rebels was not working. Cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar, who travelled across Jharkhand last month, arrived in Raipur today. He has been asked to submit a comprehensive report to the Prime Minister’s Office after he completes the tour of the Naxalite heartland — Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. He will also review development activities in the three states. On a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh, the cabinet secretary met chief minister Raman Singh and governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, a former director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Chandrashekhar was accompanied by the present IB director and senior officials from the ministries of home, rural development, drinking water supply, urban development, tribal affairs, panchayat raj, health, road transport, highways and power. Members of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the Planning Commission were present, too. According to government sources, Chandrashekhar also spoke to the administration officials of Dantewada and Bijapur in the Bastar region — the worst affected districts. “He had a long meeting with the district officials today, listening to their problems and asking questions related to security and administration,” an official said. The local administration officers showed him files, especially those related to development projects pending with the Centre. “The cabinet secretary was keen to know how various government schemes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Backward Regions’ Grant Fund were being implemented,” said an official who attended the meeting. “He asked about other special schemes for tribal communities, including the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Regulation of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, and how they could be implemented and monitored in a focused manner. He was also interested to know how the Centre’s block development initiative was working out on ground.” Sources said the cabinet secretary had gone fully prepared. “He had been properly briefed by senior officials of the ministries concerned. He wanted to know about the existing policies and the socio-economic measures being implemented by the Centre and the states,” a senior home ministry official said. Chandrashekhar is scheduled to meet members of the Salwa Judum, the anti-Naxalite civil militia, tomorrow. Sources in the PMO said the cabinet secretary’s brief was clear — to interact with state authorities on the effectiveness of the existing strategy on security and development and the possible changes that can produce better results. During his visit to Jharkhand last month, Chandrashekhar had asked the state government to formulate a proposal to tackle economic blockades by Naxalite, especially attacks on railway tracks, trains and stations. He asked the Chhattisgarh chief minister to prepare something similar. The sources said that once the proposals were received, they would be assessed and taken up for implementation by the government. The cabinet secretary would also look into issues related to the development of infrastructure, creation of employment and improvement in the quality of life in the rural areas and tribal belts that have been witnessing Naxalite violence. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071028/asp/nation/story_8482541.asp Bookmark/Search this post with:
|
|||
