Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel recently said that the state will become the millet hub of the country in the coming times. He said that "Millet Mission" initiative is aimed at giving the farmers right price for small cereal crops, provide input assistance, procurement arrangements, processing and ensure that the farmers get benefit of the expertise of experts. "Like minor forest produce, we want to make small grain crops also the strength of Chhattisgarh," said Baghel at an event organised for signing of MoU between Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad and the collectors of 14 Chhattisgarh districts under "Millet Mission" of the state.
The Chhattisgarh government has decided to set up an employment mission headed by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to create around 15 lakh job opportunities in the State in the next five years, an official said on Saturday.
Mission 36 Garh HD
Under the mission, the State government will also leverage expertise of premiere institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and National Institute of Technology, in the State to generate employment opportunities, he said.
The Chhattisgarh Rojgar Mission, headed by the Chief Minister, will have Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain and Principal Secretary Alok Shukla as the vice chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) respectively, the official said.
In an interview to Dr. Kamal Kar and Amit Sengupta, the Mission Director of Swachh Bharat Mission, Chhattisgarh, Dr. M. Geetha talks on how her state is on a mission mode and creating a trailblazer effect on tackling open defecation by creating an enabling environment in the state.
Dr. M. Geetha: We also insist that, to ensure this behavioral change, while the state has suggested that while we could give some incentives to families and communities. The state of Chhattisgarh has focused on the communities rather than the individuals. As a result its not family, but a set of families in the Gram, village or in the Panchayats, which are important. Even the incentives, it comes later. Once the community achieved the status, the money that comes in, which we call as incentive, is then utilized for a community purpose.
Dr. M. Geetha: Absolutely. I think it is the solidarity that is being built through the communities, and mission is able to achieve that once the community is triggered and brought to the notion that, sanitation and safe sanitation is towards better life.
Dr. M. Geetha: Dysfunctional toilets are not just a problem of Chhattisgarh. They are there in every state. There may be difficulties as we go ahead but we have got to move ahead. We continue to support our panchayats in tackling this problem. We have told them that they can try and get funds allocated under the 14th Finance Commission to identify and support people of economically weaker sections to rebuild or repair their toilets.
Dr. Kamal Kar: Geetha, Chhattisgarh has got 27 districts. Do you think that in the next couple of years with the great innovative action, I mean the kind of initiative that you have started, do you think that in next the 1 and 1 years, this state would become one of the leading state in terms of showing this as an example for the whole country by achieving, very close to 100% ODF status?
Salwa Judum (meaning "peace march" or "purification hunt" in the Gondi language) was a militia that was mobilised and deployed as part of counterinsurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite violence in the region. The militia, consisting of local tribal youth, received support and training from the Chhattisgarh state government. It was outlawed and banned by a Supreme Court court order but continues to exist in the form of armed auxiliary forces, District Reserve Groups, and other vigilante groups.[1][2]
On 5 July 2011, the Supreme Court of India, in a case filed by Nandini Sundar and others, declared the militia to be illegal and unconstitutional and ordered its disbanding. The court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all of its firearms, ammunition, and accessories. The use of Salwa Judum by the government for anti-Naxal operations was criticised for its violations of human rights and poorly trained youth acting in counter-insurgency roles. The court also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities by Salwa Judum.[3]
On 25 May 2013, the group's founder, Mahendra Karma, who had become a senior Congress party leader, was killed in a Naxalite attack, along with other party members, in Darbha Valley of Chhattisgarh, 400 km south of Raipur and 50 km from Jagdalpur.[4]
In 2008, Chhattisgarh state, along with neighbouring Jharkhand, accounted for over 65% of total Naxal violence in the country. Chhattisgarh had trained a number of 'Special Police Officers' or SPOs (also commonly referred to as Koya commandos), from amongst the tribespeople who were part of Salwa Judum.[7][8]
Salwa Judum herded villagers and tribal people into makeshift camps, where human rights abuses were rife, and the movement became increasingly violent and out of control.[13] Salwa Judum has also been accused of burning more than 600 villages, forcing 300,000 people to flee their homes.[14] As the situation further escalated, Human Rights Watch reported atrocities on both sides and large-scale displacement of the civilian population. By early 2008, at least 100,000 civilians caught in the conflict between the Naxalites and Salwa Judum activists had fled to camps in southern Chhattisgarh or to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.[15][16] By mid-2008, that figure had grown to 150,000.[17][18]
The Chhattisgarh state police employed tribal youths as Special Police Officers (SPOs), essentially a militia force used to combat Naxalism. In February 2011, the Supreme Court of India declared such arming of civilians illegal, but the Chhattisgarh government continued to arm them under another name.[citation needed]
Former Union Minister of Home Affairs P. Chidambaram has praised the role of SPOs in fighting Naxalism and called for their appointment "wherever required",[23] while former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has stated that "Salwa Judum is the answer to get rid of the Naxal menace in the state."[24] On 5 July 2011, the Supreme Court of India ordered the state of Chhattisgarh to disband any militia force founded to combat Maoist guerrillas. As reported in The Hindu, the Supreme Court directed the Chhattisgarh police to "immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities" and directed the police to recall all firearms issued to these men.[citation needed]
Some human rights organisations, such as the People's Union for Civil Liberties, have made allegations against Salwa Judum.[28][29][30] A fact-finding mission of the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC), appointed by the Supreme Court of India, reported that Salwa Judum was a "spontaneous reaction by the tribals to defend themselves against the reign of terror unleashed by the Naxalites." The report was submitted to the Supreme Court of India which, on the contrary, declared Salwa Judum to be illegal and unconstitutional, and ordered its disbanding.[citation needed]
In April 2008, a Supreme Court bench directed the state government to refrain from supporting and encouraging Salwa Judum: "It is a question of law and order. You cannot give arms to somebody (a civilian) and allow him to kill. You will be an abettor of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code." The state government had earlier denied Salwa Judum being a state-sponsored movement.[19][31] The Supreme Court later directed the state government to take up remedial measures suggested in the earlier NHRC report.[32] The Human Rights Commission alleged that security forces collaborated with Salwa Judum in their fight against the Maoists.[33]
However, Salwa Judum appears to have been abandoned in Chhattisgarh state, with Chief Minister Raman Singh describing the movement as "over", because it was counterproductive and "innocent people were being killed"[38] Singh, however, said that a "peaceful campaign" to wean locals away from supporting Maoists would continue.
On 25 May 2013, members of the Congress party running the Parivartan Yatra (Change Campaign), projected as preparatory campaigning for the forthcoming state elections, travelling in a convoy of vehicles after addressing rallies in Sukma, were ambushed and killed by Naxalites. The deceased included Mahendra Karma, founder and leader of the outlawed and disbanded Salwa Judum; Vidya Charan Shukla, a prominent Congress state and ex-central minister; Nand Kumar Patel, president of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee; his son Dinesh Patel; and ex-MLA Uday Mudaliyar, while several others were injured, including ex-MLA Phulo Devi Netam. Shukla survived the attack and was airlifted to several hospitals before dying on 11 June 2013.[40]
The target set for Chhattisgarh is to provide tap water supply to 39.59 lakh households by September 2023. The scheme envisages to provide 55 litres of drinking water per person per day in rural areas, an official communication said.
The mission will leverage experts from IITs, IIITs, IIMs. It is to be headed by the Chief Minister of the state. The others taking active roles in the mission are chief secretary and principal secretary of the state.
The mission is expected to create 12 to 15 lakhs of job opportunities in the next five years. The state has already excelled in minor forest produce. In 2021, Chhattisgarh secured ten national awards for good procurement, processing and performance. It has also excelled in implementing Van Dhan Yojana. The committee is to focus more on this area. This will help boost the employment around minor forest produces and will help the tribals largely. 2ff7e9595c