ARMY HELP IN NAXAL AREAS

Army roped in for development of Naxal regions

Rather than being pushed into a direct confrontation with Naxals, the Army will use its skills to develop projects rapidly in such areas.  The Rural Development Ministry has been impressed with the Army’s development initiatives in villages around its newly established training facility in Chattisgarh’s Narayanpur district. The 71 Infantry Brigade, the first Army formation to be sent to Naxal-affected Narayanpur, has helped set up bridges, improve school buildings and bring electricity to villages. At a meeting in Delhi last week, Central Army Commander Lt Gen V K Ahluwalia briefed Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on these initiatives.  The Army will contribute not resources but expertise. The ministry is particularly keen to use the Army’s skills in establishing prefabricated structures. The Army regularly uses such structures to construct bridges, buildings and other infrastructure during the movement and relocation of troops. Two critical projects identified by the ministry are bridges and houses built. House under the Indira Awas Yogna, for instance, can be built faster with prefabricated parts.

Sources said Lt Gen Ahluwalia explained how the Army helped ramp up school infrastructure, set up computer literacy camps, desilt ponds and improve roads. The Army carries out such initiatives regularly wherever it is deployed but this is the first time this has happened in Naxal-hit Narayanpurt. The 71 Brigade, which has completed its training and moved out of the camp, also set up a free medical aid camp and veterinary clinic, bored hand-pumps and tubewells for villagers, and held a special camp to guide local youth on employment in the armed forces.

Sources said that the projects were initially carried out in seven villages but will spread to other areas as the next brigade moves in for training. “Development work will continue with each successive brigade that goes there for training. This is a practice that the Army follows wherever it is deployed,” an officer said.