Govt planning Rs 3400cr package for Naxal-hit districts

NEW DELHI: Pushing hard its development agenda to tackle the Naxalite menace, the UPA government is working out a package of around Rs 3,400 crore for upgrading the infrastructure in 34 districts worst affected by the Naxal violence.

The proposal, which is part of an integrated action plan being worked out by the Planning Commission, is expected to be announced next week to complement the police offensive against the Naxals.

The Plan panel is also looking at the possibility of implementing the PESA (Panchayats Extension to Schedule Areas) Act, 1996, to give tribals the right to use minor forest produce in these areas.

Though the details of the scheme to improve the infrastructure are still being worked out, sources pointed out that the additional funds will be spent on augmenting the infrastructure -- roads, electricity and drinking water -- in the most backward blocks in the Naxal-hit districts.

As per the plan being prepared under the guidance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the money may be evenly distributed among the 34 districts.

Specific schemes for each district, which are not covered under the flagship schemes will, however, be worked out in consultation with district collectors and state government officials. "The need is to focus on blocks which are not doing well," said an official.

An assessment by the Planning Commission, based on on-ground inspection by its officials, recently revealed that the government's flagship programmes have failed to make the desired impact in the Red corridor of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, alienating the people in the area.

Most of the flagship schemes, aiming at socio-economic uplift, have performed dismally in the Naxal-affected areas. Chhattisgarh has spent 43.80% of the funds it got under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana, while Madhya Pradesh, having spent just 38.81% of the allocation, fared worse. Andhra Pradesh has done well, having spent 66.86%.

The picture is the same even for the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, with Bihar spending just 26% of the allocation. Maharasthra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa with 30%, 43% and 47%, did better but failed to assuage the concern of the Planning Commission about the state of infrastructure in the so-called Red belt.

The findings of its survey have led the Planning Commission to also write to the rural development ministry to factor in the local requirements in the execution of national job guarantee programme and rural road scheme. "It has been found that in some of the Naxal-affected areas people remained without jobs for months because officials took up schemes under NREGA only in February," said a Plan panel official.