NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah Thursday said not just Left-wing extremism but every trace of misery caused by five decades of Maoist violence must be wiped out. At an event in Chhattisgarh to distribute assistive devices to victims maimed in Naxal attacks, he accused Congress of failing to provide basic amenities for decades.Addressing the event via video conferencing, Shah said the programme, organised under ‘seva sankalp abhiyan’ to mark 25 years of PM Modi’s ‘seva and samarpan’ (service), would help tribal people who had lost limbs or sensory abilities due to Naxal violence. Chhattisgarh govt organised it with welfare organisations such as Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti and Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana to provide prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, crutches and hearing aids.Held in Jagdalpur from Oct 5 to 7, the campaign benefited over 3,600 persons with disabilities, including over 1,570 from Bastar. Shah said Maoists’ use of IEDs to maim innocent civilians for political objectives was a grave human rights violation.Though violent Naxalism was eliminated by the March 31, 2026 deadline, Shah said, the task would remain unfinished until govt healed victims’ wounds, helped them stand and ensured they lived with dignity.Bastar was becoming vibrant again, he said, citing participation in Bastar Olympics and Bastar Pandum. Shah said 8,526 Naxalites had surrendered. Accounts had been opened for 7,328, reward money given to 1,620, incentives provided to 7,882, jobs offered to 455 and land allotted to 129. Another 4,014 beneficiaries had received houses under PM Awas Yojana, while over 2,308 tribal people had undergone skill training.
A total of 6,763 ration cards had been issued, 2,808 families provided free electricity and work begun on 372 road projects. 48,526 people had received Aadhaar cards and 44 gram panchayats were recognised under ‘Ilwad Panchayat Awards’.Twenty of the 50 security camps in Chhattisgarh will be converted into Shaheed Veer Gundadhur Seva Dera, providing public services, skill training and PDS benefits to nearby villages, Shah said. “The places where our security forces once sat to protect you will become the places where officials will lay the foundation for a developed Bastar,” Shah added. tnn