Chhattisgarh

• 06 May 2024

Naxalites Surrender in Dantewada

Why in News?

Recently, 35 Naxalites surrendered in Chhattisgarh 's Dantewada district. These cadres were tasked with digging roads, felling trees to block roads and putting up posters and banners during shutdowns called by Naxalites.

Key Points

• According to the officials, these naxalites were part of Bhairamgarh, Malanger and Katekalyan area committees of the Maoists in south Bastar.
  • They were impressed by the police's rehabilitation drive 'Lon Varratu' (return to your home) and disappointed with the hollow Maoist ideology.
    • Maoism is a form of communism developed by Mao Tse Tung. It is a doctrine to capture State power through a combination of armed insurgency, mass mobilization and strategic alliances.
• These Naxalites will be provided facilities as per the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy.
• With this, 796 Naxalites, including 180 carrying rewards, have so far joined the mainstream in the district under the police's Lon Varratu campaign launched in June 2020.

Lone Varratu

• This campaign means ‘Come back home’.
• This campaign was launched for those Naxalites who intended to leave the path of red terror and join the mainstream of society.
• Under this campaign many Naxalites left the path of terrorism.

Naxalism

• The term Naxalism derives its name from the village Naxalbari of West Bengal.
• It originated as rebellion against local landlords who bashed a peasant over a land dispute.
• The movement soon spread across Eastern India in less developed areas of states such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
• Left-wing extremists (LWE) are popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalites in India.
• Objective:
  • They advocate for the overthrow of the Indian government through armed revolution and the establishment of a communist state based on Maoist principles.
  • They view the state as oppressive, exploitative, and serving the interests of the ruling elite, and seek to address socio-economic grievances through armed struggle and people's war.

Chhattisgarh Self-Help Groups Boost Voter Turnout

Why in News?

An initiative in Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh to increase voter turnout in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is attracting attention.

Key Points

• Women's Self-help groups are utilizing traditional methods by going door-to-door to meet with voters, distributing tamarind leaves and yellow rice, in order to encourage greater public engagement.
• The effort has not only sparked enthusiasm among villagers but has also demonstrated the power of community involvement in promoting democratic values.
  • This initiative is also fully supported by the district administration.

Self-Help Groups (SHGs)

• Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of people who choose to come together to find ways to improve their living conditions.
• It can be defined as a self-governed, peer-controlled information group of people with similar socio-economic backgrounds and having a desire to collectively perform a common purpose.
• SHG relies on the notion of “Self Help” to encourage self-employment and poverty alleviation.
• Objectives:
  • To build the functional capacity of the poor and the marginalized in the field of employment and income generating activities.
  • To resolve conflicts through collective leadership and mutual discussion.
  • To provide collateral free loans with terms decided by the group at the market driven rates.
  • To work as a collective guarantee system for members who propose to borrow from organised sources.
    • The poor collect their savings and save it in banks. In return they receive easy access to loans with a small rate of interest to start their micro unit enterprise.