First Naxal-Free Village In Chhattisgarh: Badesatti To Get Rs 1 Crore For Development Works

Sukma: The Badesatti village of Sukma has been declared Naxal-free under the Ilwad Panchayat Yojana in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. It becomes the first Gram Panchayat of Chhattisgarh to be free of Maoists, thereby becoming eligible to get Rs 1 crore for development works. As part of this, 11 Naxalites surrendered in this Gram Panchayat.

The Ilwad Panchayat Yojana was started under the new Naxal rehabilitation policy of the state with a provision to approve development works worth Rs 1 crore to those Gram Panchayats which facilitate the surrender of Naxalites and pass a resolution to declare themselves Maoist-free.

With the surrender of these 11 Naxalites, Badesatti village has become free from Naxalism and is eligible for the benefits of the new scheme. The police were in touch with local panchayat representatives for the last few days to encourage the militia and revolutionary party committee members of the banned organisation to surrender. It was successful, said Sundarraj P, IG, Bastar.

Surrendered Naxalites will get benefits: IG Sundarraj said that all surrendered Naxalites were given an assistance of Rs 50,000 each, and they will be rehabilitated as per the government policy.

"With the help of the police, the local panchayat encouraged people associated with the banned organization in our area to give up violence and join the mainstream. On Friday, 11 workers of our panchayat surrendered. Now, no one from our village is associated with the organization and our village has become Naxal-free," said Kalmu Joga, Sarpanch, Badesatti village.

Carpanch Kalmu Joga said that there is no panchayat building or hospital in their village. The school here has classes only up to class VIII. The money of the Ilwad scheme will be spent on roads, water supply and other infrastructure works. Badesatti village is the same village that took its first step towards peace in the year 2021. A camp of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force was set up here.

After the camp was set up, roads were constructed in the area and development works began. As a result of this, Naxal activities started declining. Out of the eight hamlets in the panchayat, six have electricity supply, while electrification work is underway in the remaining two. The panchayat has a population of 1700, of which 1400 are voters, said Jamuna Kumar Rajak, Company Commander, CAF Camp, Badesatti village.

IG Sundarraj said that in future, such surrendered villages will be given more benefits. Bastar region includes Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts. During his visit to Dantewada earlier this month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the Ilwad Panchayat Yojana and appealed to the people to start a campaign to make every village in the Bastar region Naxal-free so that the development works worth Rs 1 crore can be done. Amit Shah also underlined that the government has resolved to end Naxalism before March 31, 2026.