The CPI (Maoist) guerrillas are reported to have renewed their activities in Saranda, Asia’s largest sal forest on the Odisha-Jharkhand border. With members of the banned outfit currently observing the 21st anniversary of the formation of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), all the police stations in Sundergarh district along the Jharkhand border have been put on high alert.
What worries the state police is that Maoist ultras have become active in the area after a prolonged lull which had been induced by the success of a two-pronged plan that combined the coercive drive against the radicals with intensified developmental activities in the Saranda region. The plan that came up during the UPA regime was described as the Saranda model of development of areas affected by left-wing insurgency. Former union minister Jairam Ramesh was one of the architects of this plan that resulted in a significant decline in Maoist activities in the Saranda region, an area that once posed a huge challenge to the security forces in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district and their counterparts in Odisha’s Rourkela.
During the second innings of the UPA government, Saranda was first liberated from the clutches of the Maoists through joint operations codenamed Anaconda- 1 and Anaconda-2 launched by the CRPF, Cobra, Jharkhand Jaguar and Jharkhand Armed Police. This was followed by the unveiling of an ambitious plan worth Rs 249 crore for the development of villages in Saranda spread over 99 sq km. The plan envisaged, among other things, the execution of infrastructure projects in 56 villages liberated from the hold of the Maoists in Saranda.
The seriousness of the Centre about the execution of the plan was evident from the fact that it sent a high-level team from Delhi to study the situation in Jharkhand. The impact of the visit and the plan was also felt in the bordering areas of Odisha, such as Rourkela and police stations abutting the Saranda forests.
However, the lack of follow-up action over the years cancelled out the gains that both Jharkhand and the bordering areas of Odisha had made on account of the much-acclaimed Saranda plan. Slowly but steadily, the Maoists started rebuilding their bases in the forest and renewed their violent activities triggering concern both in Jharkhand and Odisha. Last Saturday, Maoist posters and banners were found in Saranda’s Chhota Nagra police limits, around 20 km from Sundargarh’s Jaraikela border. The posters talked about drawing lessons from the achievements and success of the two-decade-old “people’s war” of the radicals and issued a call for establishing “people’s rule” by overthrowing the “enemy rule”.
As concern over Maoist activities in Saranda mounts on both sides of the border, the government must learn from the mistakes it committed in the past. The advantages of a great initiative in Saranda were lost due to the absence of follow-up action. This should not happen again.
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