Bhopal, May 06: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, appealing to naxalites to eschew violence and work in tandem with the government for welfare of tribals, has said police force would be reduced in naxalite-infested areas. Singh, who spent Sunday night at Songudda village, known as "the capital of naxalites", in Balaghat district, expressed happiness that no naxal-related crime was reported in last four months, an official release said today. Pointing out that the state government was committed to implementing the 1997 rehabilitation package for naxalites provided they give up the path of violence, he said the government was not in favour of establishing a "Police Raj".
The chief minister asked the naxals to join the campaign being carried out by the state government to check injustice, if any, against the tribals, it said. The state government had established a participatory system of governance and the interests of tribals, scheduled tribes and backward classes were being protected, he said.
Singh said the government had decided to give ownership right to tribals on bamboo, balli and timber wood.
The central forest conservation act was not facilitating the protection of forest dwellers and it needed amendments, he said, adding every village would be given the status of a gram panchayat. Bureau Report