Raipur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that about 8,500 Naxalites have surrendered in Bastar, as he addressed an artificial limb distribution programme in Dantewada through video conferencing. He described the region’s transformation as historic and credited it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

The programme was the second free assistive-devices camp under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan for persons with disabilities. It helps people who lost limbs in IED blasts set off by Naxalites live self-reliant lives again. The first phase, held in Jagdalpur from October 5 to 7, benefited more than 3,600 persons with disabilities, including 1,570 from Bastar district alone.

“Naxalism has ended under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. Our resolve now is to heal every wound the Naxalites inflicted and to give every victim a life of dignity,” he said, in substance.

Rehabilitation Figures

He said Bastar had received limited government services for decades and outlined a welfare package to bring former insurgents and locals into the mainstream:

• 7,500 people who had no access to formal banking have had bank accounts opened.
• 1,625 individuals have received bounty payments, while 7,882 people have received financial incentives.
• 455 people have secured jobs.
• 129 people have been allotted land.
• 4,014 houses have been sanctioned under PM Awas Yojana.

Development Drive

He said more than 2,300 tribals have received skill training and 6,700 new ration cards have been issued. Free electricity has reached 2,800 families, 372 road projects have begun and 670 culverts are under construction.

A total of 48,526 people have been given Aadhaar cards, and 44 panchayats have won Panchayat awards.

From Security Camps to Service Centres

Of more than 500 security camps in the region, over 200 are being converted into Shaheed Veer Gunda Dhara Seva Deras. Central and state government officials will sit together at these centres, he said, overseeing children’s health, education and career prospects, along with fair procurement and free distribution of food grains for tribal communities.

He said this combination of security and welfare marks a turning point for Bastar, replacing decades of isolation with government support and development.