1. Prologue
  2. Maoists facing “Human Resource” crisis
    1. Why Maoists surrender
    2. Problems in Maoist Surrender scheme
      1. Fake surrenders
      2. Sudden Change of heart? hard to believe!
      3. Too old to get “re-skilled”
    3. Suggestions
  3. Home Ministry: 100 days reforms
    1. Maritime security
    2. Maoism/LWE
    3. Border security
    4. Police reforms
    5. Online visa

Prologue

In September Current Affairs- Two topics related to the “internal security” topic in Gereral Studies Mains paper 2 and interviews.

Maoists facing “Human Resource” crisis

  • 2013 and 2014: Maoist central Committee admitted their cadres deserting in large numbers, they’re unable to recruit new cadres. While CRPF deployment size has increased.
  • 2014 (till August) 260 Maoists surrendered.
  • It proves their rank and file is getting disillusion about the whole idea of capturing power through violence.

Why Maoists surrendering?

  1. More than 3 decades of struggle, yet Maoists have made no tangible results. Some of them simply fedup with jungle life.
  2. They’ve indiscriminately killed villagers, wantonly destroyed road, school, panchyat and telecom infrastructure. They’re unable to charm teenagers with revolutionary songs and dance to join the gang.
  3. For any revolution, people’s support is the cornerstone but Maoists are fast loosing that ground.
  4. Many leaders joined the gang at an impressionable teenage years. But now persuasion from police, village elders, seeing the fast pace of urban Development, age of mobile-internet, they’re slowly getting de-brainwashed from Maoist ideology. .
  5. Maoist leaders sexually exploit women cadres.
  6. Maoist Lovebirds not allowed to get married unless they undergo vasectomy. Because they ‘dalam’ has to move fast through jungles, pregnant women and infants seen as liability.
  7. Regionalism has crept into their system as well. Maoist leaders in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh resent the ‘arm-chair’ leaders from Andhra Pradesh dictating everything in the organization and enjoy 5-star lifestyle in the jungles of Junglemahal.
  8. Union and State Governments have announced very lucrative Surrender and rehabilitation scheme (S &R) to maoists who surrender, especially with weapons.
  9. They’re paid money for weapon surrendered, loans and vocational training to start a new life and monthly stipend for the first few years.
  10. Latest initiative: All India services officers (IAS, IPS and IFoS) from 8 Maoist affected states will  join mid-career training in Chhattisgarh Academy of Administration. Their mutual experience sharing will further aid in the fight against Maoists.

Surrender scheme: Criticism

Fake surrenders

  • At some areas, Policemen forcing innocent tribal youths to make fake-surrenders- to win praise from seniors and perhaps to fullfil ‘surrender quota’ allotted to their station.
  • Police trying to play tribal vs non-tribal divide amongst Maoist cadres. But in long term it may hurt the social-harmony in tribal areas.

Sudden Change of heart? hard to believe!

  • The top maoist leaders have spent their youthlife terrorizing villagers and murdering policemen. So, it’s hard to believe suddenly one day they had change of heart and want to start a new life! They must be punished for those crimes.
  • Consider this 45 years old Maoist leader- Gudsa Usendi. He was the mastermind of 2013’s Jitan Ghati massacre, killed ~30 people, including Congress leader Mahendra Karma of Chhattisgarh.
Maoist Surrender

Top Maoist Leader Gudsa Usendi surrenders with wife

  • January 2014: he surrenders with his wife. Most probably because Chhattisgarh forces would kill him in encounter others.
  • Curiously, his area of operation =Chhattisgarh but he surrendered in Andhra Pradesh where “Surrender-rehab” package is higher.

Too old to get “re-skilled”

  • Senior Maoist leaders surrendering due to age and deteriorating health hence unable to live hide in jungle areas. So, they’re getting a VRS at public money.
  • Such old men can’t be re-skilled, unlike a 18-27 years old youngman. So they become local ‘bahubali’ and join politics- thus society continues to be harmed.
  • Some of them may pretend to live civilian life but continue to act as city-spy, recruiter and PR agency of their jungle gang.

Suggestions

  • Government must do psycho-analysis or intellectual-sifting of such people. Unless their surrender leads to great damage to maoist organization, they should not be given this “VRS” package.
  • Government must not become complacent. This opportunity must be seized – to improve infrastructure and reduce socio-economic gap on those red-corridor areas, and ‘liberate’ more jungles from Maoist control. Then Maoist movement will automatically fail forever.

Home Ministry: 100 days reforms

Summary of the reforms initiated by Home Affairs ministry in 100 days, after Modi became PM.

Maritime security

  • 3 States: Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have completed Colour Coding of fishing vessels.
  • Color coding will help coastal police, coast guard and Navy in identifying root and origin of and boat

They can also differentiate fishing vessels from neighboring states and foreign vessels

  • Boat owner has to bear the color cost. State marine fisheries dept. oversees the project

Maoism/LWE

  • An Integrated Action Plan to appeal the Maoists and militants to lay down arms.
  • BSF and SSB will raise two battalions to rehabilitate such militants, who lay down arms.
  • We’ll erect >2000 mobile phone towers in the Maoist affected areas.

Border security

  • Environment Ministry has exempted all Border Infrastructure Projects within a 100 kilometers periphery of the International Borders from ‘Environmental Clearance’. This will speed up the process of modernizing border fences, outposts and infrastructure.
  • Promise to implement world class ‘Border Infrastructure Projects’

Police reforms:

  • All States asked to achieve gender equality in police force- ensure 33% police posts are filled up with women [up to the rank of Sub-Inspector]
  • Initiated a Police Reforms & Modernization programme, and increased budget allocation for it.

Online visa

  • Online Visa Application System for total 152 missions in various countries.
  • MHA has started ‘Visa on Arrival’ facility at 9 airports- to give boost to tourism.
  • Taskforce setup to solve visa-problems of (Hindu) minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh, when they visit India.