After months of calm in Saranda, Maoists have hit backthreatening to derail the government's development offensive launched in thetribal region a year ago with much hope and fanfare.
More than 36 hours since a group of CPI(Maoist) ultrasallegedly set fire to four dumpers and two JCBs (earthmovers used inconstruction) involved in constructing road under the ongoing SarandaDevelopment Plan (SDP) in Ushariya village of Digha panchayat, there has beenno arrests even as West Singhbhum police claimed to have launched a “massivemanhunt”.
According to locals, more than 30 armed Maoists arrivedaround 11 pm on November 25 and warned workers at the site not to participatein government-sponsored "anti-people programmes”. With the workers tooscared to protest, the ultras soon set fire to the equipment and fled.
Like most news development involving Maoists, this, too, ismore than a mere ‘law and order situation’ for the authorities. It could wellbe a concerted attempt by the ultra-Left CPI(Maoist) to stage a comeback in anarea from where they were driven out by the security forces.
While a combing operation has been launched under WestSinghbhum district superintendent of police, Pankaj Kamboj, paramilitarypersonnel were still to reach the spot till late Nov 26 evening, though thenearest CRPF camp in Chottanagra is only about 8 km along a forest road fromUshariya.
Why the attack:
According to reports, the equipment set on fire belonged toa contractor engaged in building a 16-kilometre road from Chottanagra toThalkobad in Saranda. The stretch where the incident occurred is part of the130-km road network being built in Saranda forest, in West Singhbhum districtof Jharkhand, as part of Saranda Development Plan (SDP), a Rs 260-crore packagesponsored by the Centre for development of the region.
While it is significant that the Maoists have hit back morethan a year since a security operation last August overthrew 11 years of Maoisthold on Saranda, the timing of the attack is equally significant. It comes daysbefore the authorities mark the first anniversary of the SDP programme beingannounced in December last year.
This attack, local leaders say, is an attempt by the Maoiststo stage a comeback.
While many other schemes under the SDP are being put intoaction, the integrated development centre at Digha panchayat village had missedat least two deadlines before the road construction work started on October 12this year. And though payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) were being made according to norms thatwere relaxed by the Centre, allowing direct cash payment of wages tobeneficiaries, there were several delays in clearing payments. Villagers hadprotested this.
Work on the road network started in late October, and thereis already a growing grouse over alleged irregularities in laying one of theroads at Chottanagra. What has raised the local tribals’ wrath is the slow andminimal work on implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 ” one ofthe long-standing demands of the region.
Though the some of the goals have been satisfactorilyachieved and work, according to officials, is on toward achieving the others,the pace of progress has come under a lot of criticism. Despite the Centre’sbest attention, there have been delays in implementation at the local level.
"The delay in FRA implementation is one of the keyissues that could undermine the plan,” Sushil Barla, a local political andtribal rights activist, said. “The delay is being used by the Maoists to incitelocals against the government. In fact, a lack of transparency and thelackadaisical attitude of the local administration could be used by them tostir up the locals into believing that the government is not serious.”
And if it happens, Barla reiterated, it would be a “tragicloss for the people of Saranda”, as the Maoists could revive their strangleholdover the region.
Govt plans: pace of implementation holds key
After the ultra-Left militants were driven away in themonsoon of last year, the union rural development ministry had announced theSaranda Development Plan to concentrate on governance needs of 56 villages insix panchayats of Saranda. As part of the plan, all 7,000 families in thesevillages were to get assistance under Indira Awaas Yojana, the Centre’sflagship rural housing grant, besides a solar lamp, bicycle and a transistorradio.
While MNREGS payment norms were relaxed, allowing directcash payment, SDP entailed 10 integrated development centres (IDCs) forsingle-window delivery of several services from the state and centralgovernments. These IDCs were to come up in the six panchayats, makinggovernance accessible to even remotest villages in the forest.
Additionally, a one-metre thick, 130-kilometre concrete roadnetwork was to be built with funds from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.As per plans, the villagers are also to be covered under FRA, 2006, withrecognition of individual and community pattas (land titles).
By October this year, the district administration had helpedover 4,000 families open bank accounts and receive the first instalment ofIndira Awaas grant. Almost all families had received solar lamps andtransistors, promised under the development plan. Logistical issues, however,came in the way of distributing the bicycles.
