Rajat Kumar and KCDeva Senapathy, Bijapur “ Baptism by bombs
When Kumar and later Devasenapathy studied for their IASexams which eventually landed them in Bijapur as Collector and Chief Officer ofthe Zilla panchayat respectively, little did they know that covering the redzone of Bastar, was best done without their cars with red lights. Devasenapathysays, “Pamed village in Usooor block is one of the 112 of the 157 villages NOTin our control. We can’t build roads, run government schemes, rebuild schoolsor health centres. But we still try”.
In April this year, both could have been dead on the sameday. On their way back from an outreach programme in one of the villages with athe local MLA, Naxalites detonated a land mine blowing the MLA’s car, the thirdin the convoy, killing his driver and two others. Luckily, The MLA was sittingwith Kumar and Senapathi in the first car.
Alex Paul Menon, Collector Sukma “ Kidnapped but wants Bastar free of Naxals
A day after theBijapur incident, Alex Paul Menon, Collector of neghbouring Sukma, waskidnapped by Naxals from a village he had decided to adopt as a model village.Menon’s panic stricken pregnant wife Asha made the first call to Senapathi whoput up his bravest front and told her. ‘Don’t worry, he will be out in fifteendays. This happens.”
Menon is back from captivity and he told The Goan “Forgetthe kidnapping, I want too show that the state still rules.”
OP Chaudhary andNiraj Bhansod Dantewada “ Education wins against guns
A 170 acre education city is the district fight back toolwhich will have schools, residential hostels, model schools for bright studentspreparing for competitive examinations, a polytechnic, a girls school and soon. In a “education city” planned by thedistrict magistrate, children orphaned by naxalite killings sing songs ofpatriotism and dance with gay abandon, some play the tabla, others stuff teddybears.
Ashutosh Bharadwaj, the Indian Express correspondent inRaipur rightly describes these officers as ‘Islands of hope.’
