Chhattisgarh making strides in different directions, but Maoism afflicts the nation’s rice bowl

A backward and Naxal-infested region people fear to venture in. Right? Not really. Once you land at state capital Raipur's well-lit Swami Vivekanand Airport and drive out on to the spacious and smooth roads, you realise the perception of the state, which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh exactly 18 years ago in November 2000, is a little askew. If first impression's anything to go by, the state is not a laggard. Political parties, though, and social scientists like to contest the fact by citing various reports and figures.

With more than 30 per cent tribal population spread across north and south Chhattisgarh's forested districts such as Raigad, Surguja, Jashpur, Bastar and Kanker, to name just a few of 27 districts, this 'rice bowl' is making strides in different directions and on various indicators.

The state produces 80 lakh tonne rice each year, from all its districts. Physical infrastructure — roads, concrete houses in villages, and abundant electricity — help clarify the perception of this once-BIMARU state, which today has a population close to 2.70 crore.

Subsidised rice distribution by the government has improved the stock of poor people. As Vijendra of Oxfam India points out: "Poverty has gone down in numbers and starvation deaths is a history in this state."

The 18 years of the state's existence have seen only two chief ministers — Ajit Jogi, a Congress leader, and BJP's Raman Singh now. Jogi's rule (2000-2003) was marked by unprecedented corruption and misrule, a primary reason why BJP shot to power in 2003. Singh's leadership kept returning the party to power. In undivided Madhya Pradesh, this region was a Congress citadel for many years.

The young developing state was created by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government from large and overpopulated Madhya Pradesh.

Endowed with huge natural resources, including forests (tendu leaves is big business) and minerals, Chhattisgarh developed both social and physical infrastructure.

Thanks to huge stocks of coal, many small and large power companies sprang up in Raigad and adjoining areas, giving tremendous fillip to industrialisation. Raipur is also a new address for the steel industry. But after coal auction scam under the UPA government got exposed, coal linkages to prospective power generating units were disturbed and power companies suffered a setback. This hit employment, and Raman Singh turned to largesses for people.

Yet, coal, iron ore and other minerals combined to position Chhattisgarh on India's industrial map. For perspective, there are more than 40 flights of different airlines that fly in and out of Raipur daily, as against a maximum of 10 flights from Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal.

State's socioeconomic transformation is an ongoing process, with the BJP government unveiling one or the other scheme for the poor and tribal populations. As poverty indicators show improvement, Maoist-led extremism remains a challenge before the leadership of the tiny state going to polls this month.

"Raman Singh's biggest failure is his total helplessness in curbing the Naxal menace that has killed a large number of innocent tribals year after year," charges Charan Das Mahant, a Congress leader. "Corruption under BJP regime has broken all records but PM Narendra Modi is refusing to take any action against Singh."

While declaring the polling schedule, the Election Commission said that considering left wing extremism, more security was needed in areas where Naxals scare people off voting. The EC's assessment turned out to be fairly accurate.

Two successive attacks, in Bastar on October 28, and on October 30 near Dantewada which killed Doordarshan cameraman Achyutanand Sahu and two cops, were unexpected. Jan Militia, an old Naxal outfit supported by Andhra extremists, was said to be behind the killings.

Incidentally, this is only the third time that a journalist was killed last week, something that has baffled the local police forces too. "Left-wing extremists, unlike other ultra groups, seldom attack journalists. But this barbaric attack shows their newfound desperation," said a senior police official while talking to this correspondent from Bastar.

In 2013, Naxalites killed two local scribes in Sukma and Bijapur districts, shocking the security agencies, thinking they were police informers. The same year, a large number of Congress leaders including a votary of a separate Chhattisgarh, Vidya Charan Shukla, had been killed while they were taking out a 'Parivartan Rally' against the incumbent BJP government. The mass killing of top Congress leaders by Maoists had shaken the country, but that did not prevent Raman Singh from returning to power later that year, in his third successive stint.

Is Raman Singh becoming BJP's Jyoti Basu, the communist leader who ruled West Bengal for more than 22 years? Maybe, but maybe not. His populist schemes are always a talking point. The most talked these days about is the free distribution of 50 lakh basic mobile phones to students and tribals. First, he began providing rice at Re 1 per kg to the very poor, then brought in the mobiles on the eve of polls.

Though the 'Sanchar Kranti Yojana' had to be halted in between and just about 20-22 lakh phones could be distributed due to the election code of conduct, free distribution of phones and other such sops go to prove development is not bringing in the desired results for the ruling party.

A former bureaucrat quipped: "If so much of development has taken place in Chhattisgarh, why spend lakhs of taxpayer's money on distributing cellphones?"