Chhattisgarh CM assures rehabilitation of people displaced due to Maoist violence

Delegation of displaced people staying in Telangana, AP meets Baghel in Raipur

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R  In what could be a major relief for the Maoist-violence hit people displaced from Bastar region to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh (later bifurcated into Andhra and Telangana) in 2005-06, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday assured proper rehabilitation for them in safe areas of the state.

Meeting a delegation of such displaced people at the CM House in Raipur, Baghel said that if the people who were displaced from Sukma, Bijapur and Dantewada of Bastar region during the Salwa Judum (counter-insurgency) campaign era to AP and Telangana wanted to come back, the state government will welcome them back wholeheartedly.

“Conditions conducive to their rehabilitation will be established through a proper work plan,” Baghel said while holding discussions with the delegation. The CM further said that along with land, the government will also make available all basic facilities to these people including ration shops, schools and employment.

Additional chief secretary of home department Subrat Sahu and director general of police (DGP) Ashok Juneja were asked by the chief minister to take due steps for the matter. Industries minister Kawasi Lakhma and chairman of Chhattisgarh State Scheduled Tribe Commission, Bhanupratap Singh were present on the occasion.

THE WEEK has been writing on the issue, highlighting the plight of the Maoist violence hit people, who were facing double displacement from AP and Telangana as these states did not want to legalise the stay of these cross border settlers.

The issue of these people was raised by The New Peace Process – an initiative working to restore peace in Maoist-violence parts of central India. Convener of The New Peace Process, Shubhrashu Choudhary accompanied the delegation of the displaced people to the CM House.

In February this year, the two state governments allegedly accelerated attempts to evict the settlers through afforestation drives on the land occupied by them.

The drive also included razing of houses of settlers in some cases, and was reported from several settlements, most of them in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana.

The afforestation process on the lands cultivated by the settlers but not owned by them was ongoing in phases from the past two years and informally the tribals were being asked to go back to Chhattisgarh. About half of the land cultivated by the settlers has already been brought under afforestation, Choudhary has told THE WEEK.

What is the issue?

In 2005, when violence suddenly increased in Chhattisgarh in the backdrop of the Salwa Judum initiative of the state government, about 55,000 people were reportedly forced to leave their homes and villages in Bastar region and flee to the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. These people cut forests on the borders of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh and started making a living there.

Most of the displaced people belong to the Muria tribe who are part of the Gonds. They are, however, called Gutti Koya in Andhra Pradesh, but due to a spelling mistake, they were registered as ‘Gutta Koya’ in these two states. They have not been given the status of a tribe, thus are deprived of any benefits. However, the displaced people continued to remain settled in these two states to avoid facing violence back home in Chhattisgarh.

However, with both AP and Telangana governments allegedly accelerating efforts to evict them from the settlements, these displaced tribals turned into ‘nowhere people’.