Ranchi: After a visit to some Naxal-hit areas in Jharkand, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said Naxals can be defeated ideologically if programmes meant for rural development are successfully implemented.
The Rural Development Minister at the same time said the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have their special roles in dealing with Naxals.
"The police and the CRPF have their special places (in dealing with Naxalism). But I believe the ideological battle can be won through rural development, which has got a special importance," he told reporters in Ranchi.
"If the rural works are taken up properly, we will be successful in dealing with Naxalism in the next five or six years," Ramesh said.
Ramesh is in Jharkand on a two-day visit with a view to take stock of the ground reality of the Naxal-hit areas of the mineral-rich state.
He went to Gumla district on Saturday and met people of Raghunathpur and Tupu Toli villages and inspected the welfare programmes. He also visited Naxal affected Ranchi district.
Ramesh appeared impressed when members of 'Mahila Mandal' told that they were being benefited by the Central schemes under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP).
Commenting on Jharkhand, he said the fact remains that the tardy pace of road works in the state is attributed to threats to contractors for levy (extortion).
"Lohardaga, Simdega, Latehar and Gumla are some of the districts where work under Prime Minister s Rural Road Scheme is a cause for concern," he said.
Pointing out that 14 out of the 60 Naxal-infested districts in the country are from Jharkhand, Ramesh said he would visit the state every three months to monitor the development programmes in these districts.
Ramesh and Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda also had a video conferencing with the officials of the 14 districts and were informed about projects taken up under the IAP.
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