
'Poona Margham': From guns to growth, 1,400 former Maoists embrace peace in Chhattisgarh's Bastar
And at the heart of this transformation lies 'Poona Margham' (New Path), a grassroots rehabilitation campaign that's helping former insurgents find their way back to society.
Launched across all seven Maoist-affected districts of the Bastar Range, 'Poona Margham: 'Rehabilitation for Social Reintegration' has seen an unprecedented 1,400 Maoists surrender and rejoin the mainstream in just 18 months, making it one of India's most significant peacebuilding efforts in recent memory.
Bastar IG P Sundarraj said, 'Poona Margham is more than laying down arms. It's about picking up life again.'
Poona Margham offers a genuine opportunity for former cadres, many of them young men and women radicalized in their teens, to reclaim their identities, reconnect with families, and lead lives of dignity and self-reliance, Bastar police said.
From PLGA to Plough: Changing Roles, Changing Lives
In districts like Sukma, Bijapur, and Dantewada, where red flags once marked Maoist strongholds, young people are now seen welding machines in training centres, growing vegetables in community gardens, or attending tailoring classes at newly built skill hubs.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
The Most Successful Way of Intraday Trading is "Market Profile"
TradeWise
Learn More
Undo
Take Rahul, for instance — once a PLGA platoon member responsible for carrying out ambushes on CRPF convoys. Today, he runs a small motorbike repair shop in Narayanpur and helps the local administration identify vulnerable youth at risk of radicalisation.
'The gun only gave me fear. This wrench gives me freedom,' he says, tightening the bolt on a customer's wheel.
Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, P Sundarraj, who has been instrumental in shaping Poona Margham, describes the initiative not just as a security measure but as 'a moral mission.'
'Poona Margham is about more than laying down arms. It's about picking up life again. It shows that positive change is not only possible, it is happening, here and now,' he says.
'The Maoist ideology has become directionless. Today, those who once spread fear are helping us build roads, schools, and even peace committees.' IG said.
Under the government's Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy 2025, all former Maoists are offered skill development training in trades like carpentry, electrical work, agriculture, animal husbandry, financial assistance for starting small businesses, psychological counselling and social reintegration support and secure housing and access to health services.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
Israel claims to have killed senior Hezbollah commander
Tel Aviv [Israel], July 26 (ANI): The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday said they killed Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail , a senior Hezbollah commander in the Bint Jbeil sector. The IDF said that Ismail was involved in efforts to rehabilitate the terrorist organization in southern Lebanon. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Cybersecurity Design Thinking Degree Healthcare Others Operations Management Finance others healthcare Artificial Intelligence Management Leadership MBA Product Management Data Analytics MCA Project Management Public Policy Data Science CXO Digital Marketing PGDM Data Science Technology Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months MIT xPRO CERT-MIT xPRO PGC in Cybersecurity Starts on undefined Get Details In a post on X, the IDF said, "ELIMINATED: Ali Abd al-Qader Ismail, a senior Hezbollah commander in the Bint Jbeil sector, involved in efforts to rehabilitate the terrorist organization in southern Lebanon. The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Join new Free to Play WWII MMO War Thunder War Thunder Play Now Undo — IDF (@IDF) Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz visited the home of the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel , Sheikh Muafak Tarif, vowing to aid their brethren in Syria. Visiting the village of Julis, Katz said the military would work to provide medical assistance to the Druze of southern Syria, which suffered deadly attacks from Bedouin tribes earlier this month, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry. Live Events A boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid supplies approached the Gaza Strip , according to the organizers. The Handala boat, with 15 activists, set sail from Sicily earlier this month, a month after Israel intercepted a different vessel that had made a high-profile attempt to break the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip, as per the Times of Israel. Handala is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition , which also dispatched the earlier boat, the Madleen, on a mission to challenge Israel's blockade on the Strip. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told former hostages and hostage families yesterday that the Trump administration needs to "rethink" its strategy regarding solving the war in Gaza, after being unable to end the conflict since coming into office in January, The Times of Israel reported. Rubio said that it was necessary to "come to the president with new options" on strategy regarding the war, the report quotes him as saying, without detailing what those options may be. Captivity survivors and hostage families met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Friday, as per The Times of Israel.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Woman arrested for railway job scam
Thiruvananthapuram : Pettah police arrested a Kollam, Mughathala-based woman, Reshma, 24, for defrauding several people by offering jobs in the Indian Railways. According to the police, she befriended the victims after meeting them by chance at Thampanoor railway station. She used to wear an identity card of the Indian Railways to convince victims that she was a senior clerk in the recruitment division. Reshma then maintained a relationship with the victims tactically. During communications over the phone, she promised the victims jobs and later took lakhs of rupees from them. One of the complainants, a Manacaud-based woman and her brother lost Rs 4.5 lakh in the scam. Reshma offered the woman a job as junior clerk and her brother a job in the post of commercial-cum-ticket clerk. She collected the amount claiming that she had to bribe some of her senior officers. The victims were asked to sign several documents and an offer letter was also sent. They realised it was a scam only when they verified it with the office concerned. "Reshma stays with her husband, mother and three children in Kollam. Her connections in Thiruvananthapuram and what prompted her to cheat the victims will be known only through a detailed probe," said police. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Libas Purple Days Sale Libas Undo Police said that she was arrested in a similar cheating case registered at Thampanoor police station in 2022. The probe team also found that the documents she gave to the victims looked similar to the ones in possession of Murukeshan Pillai, who was earlier arrested in a job scam. Pillai also cheated several people by offering jobs in the railways. The links between them were being examined, police said. Meanwhile, a court granted her bail when Pettah police produced her in connection with the case registered on the complaint of the Manacaud-based woman.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Police seize mobile phone from inmate during inspection at central prison
Thiruvananthapuram: Exposing security lapses at Central Prison and Correctional Home, Poojappura, officers seized a mobile phone from an inmate during an inspection. The mobile phone was spotted this time in the inner wear of an inmate, Shafeek U T, 28, of Pachira near Pallipuram. Police registered a case against him under Section 86 (2) of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Act-2010. "The mobile phone is sent for forensic examination to trace the owner using its IMEI number. A detailed probe will be ensured this time to identify how the mobile phones reached inside the prison," said station house officer at Poojappura police. This is the fifth time a mobile phone was seized from the prison. In previous incidents, mobile phones were spotted on the roof of the toilets and also found wrapped in plastic covers in the courtyard. In all cases, police identified the owners of the mobile phones. However, the probe team could not find how the mobile phones reached the inmates inside the central prison, where the security measures are fully capped. A year ago, a mobile phone was spotted inside the prison, and during the investigation, it was found that a prisoner on 'parole' threw it over the boundary wall for another inmate. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Libas Purple Days Sale Libas Undo "We will check CCTV visuals inside to know how the phone reached there," said police. In addition to the seizure of mobile phones, ganja was seized from the prison four times and banned tobacco products once in the past two years. In addition to these, two jail breaks were also reported and three inmates tried to commit suicide. The jail authorities blamed a shortage of staff and overcrowded cells for all the mess.