Context

When much is made of peace talks with rebels in Northeast India, avoidance of peace talks with Maoist rebels is strange.

States left to deal with the Maoists

• Scale and extent of the problem: Officially in 2019, there are 11 states and 90 affected districts.
• State subject: This is because policing and maintaining law and order are matters devolved to states.
• The approach adopted to deal with the problem: According to MHA-
  • Capacity building: Primarily by capacity building of the state governments.
  • Areas of capacity building: Capacity building is to be carried out in areas of security and development. This will continue with the-
  • Better police training.
  • Better intelligence gathering.
  • Reinforcing police stations in conflict zones.
  • And recruiting locals into auxiliary forces.
• Support by MHA: MHA will continue to provide the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other paramilitaries under its command.
  • Support of NTRO: Intelligence gathering outfits such as the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).
  • NTRO has in the past year increased drone surveillance over the densely forested Abujhmad area in southwest Chhattisgarh, which remains the main rebel hub.

The success achieved so far

• Influence reduced to 90 districts: The policies so far has certainly contained the rebels across 90 affected districts.
• Surrender and rehabilitation policy: Most Maoist-affected states in India have a surrender and rehabilitation policy.
• Surrender policy along with search and destroy : Surrender policy rides in tandem with search-and-destroy missions that police and paramilitaries provide.
• This pincer has massively depleted rebel leadership and ranks with regular killings, arrests, and surrender of its leaders and cadres.

Return of conflict displaced people

• It is crucial for the conflict-displaced to return to their homes.
• Issues related to return of displaced: Agencies discourage those returning from going back to their old home and instead are offered state-mandated enclaves.
  • No or little economic imperatives: Those returning are offered little economic imperative besides daily wage labour and scrambling for government handouts.
  • Some government jobs: For some, jobs are offered in
  • That is, in any case, the present for much of the 50,000 or so who did not manage to escape to Telangana and elsewhere.

Conclusion

• The central government would do well to focus here and in beginning negotiations for peace.
• The Left-wing rebellion, a reality for over 50 years, is difficult to end until poor governance is improved.

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