CHHATTISGARH’S RED CORRIDOR TO BECOME GREEN CORRIDOR OF PEACE, DEVELOPMENT

NEW DELHI : The Maoist rebellion in Chhattisgarh is at its end and the state’s so-called red corridor will become a “green corridor of development and peace”, said chief minister Raman Singh on Friday.

Singh, who was speaking at the 15th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, said Chhattisgarh is “turning a new tide” because of his government’s development policies. “The state is 17 years old now — it’s an age when one is full of ambition and aspiration.”

“Red corridor will become green corridor. Green corridor means peace and development. There will be drums of celebrations, not the sound of explosions,” he said in a reply to a question on why 17 of the state’s 27 districts continue to be classified as Maoist-infested.

On steps being taken by the government to tackle the Maoist rebellion, Singh asserted that development projects are being pushed despite continued violence. “Recently we lost 12 security personnel while trying to build a stretch of road,” he said, explaining that roads and schools are being rebuilt wherever they have been destroyed in Maoist hotbeds.

Commenting on alleged human rights violations by security forces fighting Maoists, he said, “Change can’t be brought at gunpoint. It will need dialogue and development.”

Singh, the BJP’S longest-serving chief minister, said he was confident of returning to power for the fourth time in 2018.

He quoted per capita power consumption, statistics and healthcare indicators to assert thatthestateis“onatremendousgrowthpath” after being considered backward for years . To illustrate the progress in developing infrastructure, Singh shared an anecdote of how his family depends on government-run hospitals.

“When my father fell ill, I decided to have him treated at a district government hospital. My daughter-in-law was to have a premature delivery. I had to decide whether to take her at AIIMS in Delhi or a government hospital in Raipur.ichoseraipurandsheandthechildare doing well.” Singh was asked about communal incidents, such as cow vigilantes attacking Muslim cattle traders, in other Bjp-ruled states. “In our state there is no history of communal riots, and I say there will be no such incident in the next 50 years,” he replied.