Latest news with #PoonaMargham
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
'Poona Margham': From guns to growth, 1,400 former Maoists embrace peace in Chhattisgarh's Bastar
RAIPUR: In the deep forests of Bastar, once synonymous with gunfire, ambushes, and shadowy Maoist hideouts, a quiet revolution is taking shape. It's not being fought with rifles, but with hope, skill, and second chances. 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.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
In fight against Maoists, Bastar police try a new approach – reaching out to their families
Holding village outreach programmes, reaching out to existing Maoist cadres through their families and persuading them to lay down their arms – that's what the Bastar Police plans to do with its new initiative 'Poona Margham'. Translated as 'New Path', the outreach comes as part of the state government's anti-insurgency push to meet the central government's March 2026 push against the Maoist movement. It also comes months after the state government introduced the 'Naxal Surrender and Victim Rehabilitation Policy-2025'. According to the police, the campaign aims at having security forces – especially surrendered Maoists recruited into the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Bastar Fighters – reach out to families of existing cadres and persuade them to 'shun violence and join the mainstream'. 'Poona Margham is an initiative in which we will emphasise on reaching out to Maoists and facilitate their surrender and reintegration into society,' Inspector General of Police for Bastar Range Sundarraj P told The Indian Express. 'We will be conducting various community outreach programmes, meeting the family of the existing Maoist cadres and village elders to highlight the need for peace for the region's inclusive development.' The initiative also promises skill development training, promoting self-employment and livelihood opportunities and providing psychological counselling and social reintegration to surrendered Maoists. Other measures under the campaign include continuing outreach measures such as medical camps, holding sporting activities and cultural reintegration programmes. 'The campaign is to make the cadres realise that the Maoist outfit is breathing its last and that, now, they are left with only one option — shun violence and join mainstream. They are urged to understand their responsibilities toward their families, society, and nation, and adopt the path of peace, harmony, and rehabilitation,' Sundarraj P said. Counter-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh have intensified significantly since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state in December 2023. Since then, over 400 Maoists have been killed in the state – 221 in this year alone. Meanwhile, 38 security personnel and 97 civilians have also been killed in Naxal violence during the same period.
