Telangana plan in tatters, Maoists firm up hold

Khammam and Adilabad have been selected under ACA in Telangana. The four mandals in Bhadrachalam division, Dummugudem, Charla, Venkatapuram and Vazedu, have about a 300-km long border with Chhattisgarh.

The government has planned to deal with Left Wing extremism in a holistic manner, in areas of security, development, rights of local communities, administration and public perception by ensuring that basic infrastructure and public services — roads, functioning health centres and schools — reach these areas.

However, this aim has not been fulfilled in Khammam. For example, the roadwork from Kurnavalli to Esarelli in Charla mandal, sanctioned under ACA, has not been completed due to Maoist intervention. Also, one job from each household in LWE areas, as announced by the central government, is not being implemented.

Security forces are unable to reach these habitations for day-to-day affairs. In the instance of any crime in these habitations, the cops call the involved persons to the police stations and file cases.

Eyewitnesses too are called to the mandal headquarters for information and investigation. Station house officers and other cops can only move freely in mandal headquarters and not in the villages.

Many tribals residing in these habitations are under the influence of Maoists and there is no mechanism for the government to win the confidence of this populace.

Moreover, the CRPF forces’ rough handling of the tribals during combing operations has not helped matters.