Need to take development to Maoist-affected areas, says CM Sai

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday (December 12, 2025) said that just ending Maoism was not enough, and the government needed to take development to the affected areas.

“See, we know that merely eliminating Naxalism would not be enough and we need to take development to that area [Bastar], and we have started doing that” said Mr. Sai said at a press conference in Raipur in response to a question on the government's vision for Bastar – a left wing extremism affected area in South Chhattisgarh – after March 31, 2026.

The press conference was held on the completion of two years of the current Bharatiya Janata Party government in the State, and March 2026 is the deadline that the Centre has set for the elimination of Maoism in the country.

The Chief Minister said that a decisive battle was being waged against Maoism. “In the past two years, 505 Naxalites have been neutralised, 2,386 have surrendered, and 1,901 have been arrested. Bastar is being integrated into the mainstream through security and development,” he said earlier during his address.

He added that under the Niyyad Nella Naar scheme, basic amenities such as ration, Aadhaar, Ayushman cards, housing, electricity, and roads had been provided to remote villages. Schools have reopened in Bastar, and events like eco-tourism, Bastar Pandum, and the Bastar Olympics are creating a new identity for the region.

He said that Bastar as a region had immense potential for tourism.

Claiming that public trust had grown even stronger for his government over the past two years, the Chief Minister said that they had fulfilled the promises made to the people with “complete loyalty and commitment”.

Listing some of these fulfilled promises, Mr. Sai said that on the second day of the government's formation, more than 18 lakh needy families were approved for Prime Minister's Housing. “Farmers are being provided with a subsidy of Rs. 3,100 per quintal and paddy procurement at 21 quintals per acre, making farming a profitable business,” he said.