Surprise visit: Chhattisgarh Deputy CM meets surrendered Naxalites at rehab centre

Sukma, Nov 23 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma has met surrendered Naxalites at a rehabilitation centre in Sukma district and asked officials to arrange their visit to the state assembly during the winter session to help them understand democratic processes.

Sukma, once considered a Maoist stronghold, is now witnessing significant progress in counter-insurgency efforts, with the central government aiming to make Chhattisgarh as well as the country free of the Naxal menace by March 2026.

More than 2,100 Maoists have surrendered in Chhattisgarh in the last 23 months, while senior Naxal leader Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi laid down arms along with 60 other cadres in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district last month.

Sharma, who also holds the Home portfolio, paid a surprise visit late Saturday evening to the rehabilitation centre in Sukma town, which houses 94 surrendered Naxalites, comprising 54 men and 40 women, as per officials.

He held a 'choupal' (traditional meeting) with the youth who have surrendered arms and joined the mainstream, an official statement said.

The deputy CM sat on the ground with the youth, listened to their concerns and experiences and directed officials to provide proper food, accommodation and other essential services to them.

He also directed officials to organise a special health camp at the rehabilitation centre and arrange their visit to the state assembly in Raipur during the winter session next month to help them understand the democratic processes and government functioning, the release said.

During the interaction, Sharma sought details about the training programmes being offered at the centre and personally reviewed the basic facilities available to the beneficiaries.

He directed officials to ensure proper food, accommodation and other essential services for the youth, the release said.

Sharma also enquired about their education, agricultural activities and meetings with family members. He instructed officers to allow family visits on market days or whenever requested.

"If the family members of any rehabilitated youth are lodged in jail and the youth wishes to meet them, arrangements should be made," he said.

Sharma told officials that if any of the rehabilitated youth wish to get married, the administration would facilitate a community wedding ceremony for them, the release said.

Some of the surrendered Naxalites informed the Deputy CM that their basic documents were incomplete. Sharma immediately instructed the district administration to initiate the documentation process, it said.

The rehabilitation centre in Sukma currently provides training in masonry, agriculture-based entrepreneurship and tailoring, according to officials.

Under the state's rehabilitation policy, the youth who have surrendered are also being assisted in securing long-term employment, the release said.

Additional Director General of Police Vivekanand Sinha, Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj Pattilingam, Sukma Collector Devesh Kumar Dhruv, Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan and other officials were present, it added.

Notably, top Naxalite commander Madvi Hidma, who hailed from Puvarti village in Sukma, was killed in an encounter in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on November 18, a breakthrough the Chhattisgarh Police described as the "last nail in the coffin" of the insurgency in the Dandakaranya region. PTI TKP GK