Development of Roads in Left Wing Extremism Affected areas

To tackle the naxal menace and to improve connectivity in the left wing extremism affected regions the government plans to develop 1202.43 km National Highways and 4362.45 km of State Roads at an estimated cost of Rs.7300 crore. The project covers identified 33 districts in eight States namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. The Ministry of Home Affairs will prioritize the projects in various States. For this, the government has allocated Rs 500 crore for 2009-2010.

The roads to be built in these areas have to be divided in to three categories according to the need for security. Category I consists of those road stretches where work can be carried out without much security problem. Category II consists of those road stretches where some protection is needed and Category III consists of those stretches where there is a high risk of security and execution activities need special protection from State government.

The programme has twin objectives of improving connectivity and tackling the naxal menace. There are various reasons why this ambitious programme will not be successful. It will fail on the objective of eliminating the extremists as it is crucially dependent on the ability of the state government to provide safety and security necessary to build these stretches. The road stretches which need maximum security (Category III) will lie in districts where the police can not even enter and these critical areas will be taken up in the end. Therefore, the programme for development of roads in left wing extremism affected areas actually postpones the development of roads in the most severely affected districts. This is keeping in line with the age old policy of the government to postpone development programmes in tribal areas.

The states affected by naxal are historically some of the most badly governed state and very poor. In the Naxal-affected districts, 32% of the population is below the officially - measured poverty line, compared to 24% elsewhere. Only 68% of homes in Naxal-affected districts get safe drinking water, in other places, the number is 74%. There is another similarity in the left wing extremism affected districts of India apart from abject poverty, poor governance and poor infrastructure facilities. These areas are typically rich in coal, iron ore and bauxite. The curse of minerals has gripped the area. The locals have been robbed of land and forest resources as these areas were under the control of mining mafia prior to the emergence of naxals.

The fact that naxal infested areas are mineral rich lead us to the conclusion that the issue of connectivity in these areas is very different from that in the north east and dessert areas. These areas have been very well connected with road and rail network to exploit the mineral resources. Infact the very fact that naxals blow up roads and railway line very often proves that there are roads and railway lines available (something that is not so easily available to insurgents in the north east) and also that these roads have not helped in bringing the poor out of the poverty trap. Therefore, any attempt to bring about development by upgrading/improving existing roads with the same alignment (mines to railway station to industrial areas) will not lead to development. Thus the programme will not achieve much of the developmental goals that are associated with construction of roads.

The effect of the programme in combating extremists by helping security forces access the region is doubtful given that it aims to first develop roads in areas where there is lower risk of security. Thus the programme will fail to deliver in terms of both the objectives.