After 60 years of attaining independence, India is still a land with wide income disparity. While the country is fast climbing the trajectory of 10% GDP growth rate, around 836 million of its citizens live in abject poverty surviving on less than Rs. 20 a day. This has been the fertile ground for rising of anti-government forces in the country under the garb of the Maoists or the Naxals.
Despite an array of government sponsored anti-poverty programs, the poorest of the population, with most of them residing in the mineral rich tribal belts of the country have not received any benefit of economic advancement. This is the reason for popularity of the Maoists in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, parts of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. According to Ajai Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi, analysts are comprehending that a process of systematic mobilization will translate into violence within the next five or ten years.
The country is lying on a heap of ammunitions of disgruntled and deprived population that will burst any moment. In such a scenario what is the solution to this problem? According to a social worker in the Maoist affected Dantewada, Himanshu Kumar,
If you have to put out a fire, you have to remove the fuel first.
Are the central and the state governments serious enough to quench the grievances of the poor? Mobilization of armed forces in these regions is not enough as violence only breeds more violence. A concerted effort is needed to improve the economic conditions of the people in these regions. However, institutionalized corruption in the country has diluted all governmental policies aimed at poverty alleviation. If the removal of poverty is eclipsed from government policies, then the country could see a civil war in the future.
Source: AFP
