Chhattisgarh’s Chhattisgarh Administration’s Challenges in Mainstreaming Villages Despite Limited Resources

• The Chhattisgarh administration faces a new challenge in mainstreaming villages in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, which has been inaccessible to the district administration due to Maoist control.

• The construction of a pathway to link Narayanpur with Kanker districts has reduced the daily commute for Mahru Potai, the secretary of the Garpa village panchayat, from nearly five hours to two.

• The administration has identified five pockets of government access to people, which it calls “accesses.”

• The largely tribal administrative division of Bastar comprises seven districts, including Narayanpur, where security forces have mounted an aggressive campaign, hunting down over 425 alleged Maoists since December 2023.

• The terrain and scattered population make reaching people expensive, making it difficult to balance financial and social obligations.

• The ‘Niyad Nellanar’ scheme of the Chhattisgarh government aims to enhance basic facilities and welfare benefits in a 10-km radius of the new camps set up in the Maoist-affected areas.

• The welfare camps have a carefully thought-through action plan, with careful consideration of who will be acceptable inside to avoid compromise lives.

• Delivering these schemes in hitherto ungoverned areas poses multifold challenges, including transportation costs, availability of skilled labourers, and connectivity issues.

• Despite these challenges, people are coming forward to ask for services and assert their rights, shedding the fear instilled by the Maoists.