Title - We have done better than other States in developing Maoist areas: Mamata

Cautioning the Maoists that her government will not tolerate any violence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that West Bengal had outperformed all other States in ensuring development of areas where Maoists are present.She was addressing a rally at Belpahari in Paschim Medinipur district, once the hotbed of Naxal activities.Ms. Banerjee, who became the first Chief Minister to visit the area in four decades, handed over cheques to family members of people killed by Maoists, even as a Maoist cadre publicly surrendered before her.“I have no tolerance for those who want to create disturbance and threaten peace…the Maoists do not want peace, they want to continue their guerrilla war in the forest areas,” she said, adding that cadres were being brought over from Jharkhand and Odisha to foment trouble in the Jangalmahal region of the State.Urging the people to stand up to the Maoists, Ms. Banerjee cited her own example.“I was asked not to come here because they [the Maoists] want to kill me. I told my well-wishers that many have tried to kill me in the past and I have managed to survive and I have come here,” Ms. Banerjee said even as a heavy security ring was thrown round the area where the rally was organised.Ms. Banerjee said that the previous Left Front government “was afraid” to come to the areas in which the Maoists are present, whereas she had not only made the trip, but had also brought senior government officials to Belpahari.“To ensure development in this region it is vital that peace is restored….They [the Maoists] do not want development. Instead of allowing development measures, they tell villagers do not accept the rice that the government offers,” she said.

Ms. Banerjee also promised a government job for one family member of all the people killed in Maoist violence, adding that those who stand up to the rebels should register their names with local authorities so that they could be provided jobs in the future.

She said that apart from the 10,000 jobs that the State Government had provided exclusively for the people from the region, the Railways will also provide them 700 jobs .

“Look out for the announcements, wait for them and be patient,” Ms. Banerjee said, asking the people not to despair if they are unable to get a job in their first attempt.

“If you cannot get a job with the police, you can get one as a teacher or in the Railways,” she said .

Describing the Maoists as people “who only know how to loot the forests and extort money from the people,” Ms. Banerjee said that “they are not waging any ideological warfare.”