Maoist affected areas – Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai said on Friday (December 12, 2025) that merely eliminating Maoism is not enough, but the government needs to take development to the affected areas. “Look, we know that merely eliminating Naxalism will not be enough and we need to take development to that region [Bastar], and we have started doing that,” Mr Sai said at a press conference in Raipur in response to a question on the government’s vision for Bastar – a left-wing extremism-hit region in south Chhattisgarh – after March 31, 2026.

The press conference was held on the completion of two years of the current Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, and the deadline is March 2026. The Center has geared up to eliminate Maoism in the country.

The Chief Minister said that a decisive battle is being fought against Maoism. “In the last two years, 505 Naxalites have been killed, 2,386 have surrendered and 1,901 have been arrested. Bastar is being integrated into the mainstream through security and development,” he said during his address.

He said that under the Niyad Nela Naar scheme, basic facilities like ration, Aadhaar, Ayushman card, housing, electricity and roads have been provided in remote villages. Schools have reopened in Bastar and events like eco-tourism, Bastar Pandum and Bastar Olympics are creating a new identity for the region.

He said that there is immense potential for tourism in Bastar region. Claiming that public confidence in his government has grown stronger in the last two years, the Chief Minister said he has fulfilled the promises made to the people with “full devotion and commitment”.

Enumerating some of these fulfilled promises, Shri Sai said that on the very second day of the formation of the government, Prime Minister houses were sanctioned to more than 18 lakh needy families. “Farmers are being provided a subsidy of Rs 3,100 per quintal and procurement of paddy at 21 quintals per acre, making farming a profitable business,” he said.