Union Home Minister Amit Shah was addressing the distribution ceremony of aid equipment organized for people affected by Naxal violence and other disabled people in Chhattisgarh on Thursday through video conferencing.
The Home Minister said that under the 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' in Chhattisgarh, a distribution program of aid equipment was organized in Jagdalpur between October 5 and 7. More than 3,600 disabled people benefited from this campaign. These included more than 1,570 beneficiaries from Bastar alone.
Amit Shah said that these figures reflect the pain of Bastar and the impact of Naxalism on the poor tribal families there. Naxalism, which has lasted for five decades, has caused harm to the people of the region at the physical, social and economic levels. A large number of people suffered disability due to violence, affecting their normal lives and livelihoods.
He said that ending Naxalism does not mean that the sufferings of the last five decades can be erased. For this, it is necessary to heal the wounds of the people affected by violence and help them in rebuilding their lives. It is the responsibility of the government to identify such people and provide them necessary assistance. By getting artificial limbs and assistive devices, affected people can resume their daily activities and move towards becoming self-reliant.
Amit Shah said that it is very important to help those who have lost their hands and legs due to Naxalism, whose hearing ability has been affected or who have lost their eyesight. The government's effort is to identify all such needy people and provide them with artificial limbs and assistive devices as per their need.
He said, “Eliminating Naxalism does not mean that we can erase the sufferings suffered in the last five decades. Wherever there are traces of these sufferings, we have to heal those wounds. We have to help the affected people to rebuild their lives and ensure that they can live with dignity.”
He said that the purpose of providing artificial hands is to enable people to work with their hands again. Similarly, with the help of artificial leg, they can stand on their feet again and move towards living a normal life. He described the initial results of the aid program as encouraging.
Sharing the experience of a beneficiary of the campaign, Amit Shah said that recently he heard on social media from a person who had received assistance under this program. The man told that after three years he could lift the glass with his hand and drink water himself.
The Home Minister said that he was very happy to hear this from the beneficiary. He said that enabling a needy person to perform his daily tasks on his own again is not just about providing assistance but also an effort to restore his self-respect and self-reliance.
He said that the Modi government had resolved to end Naxalism from the country before March 31, 2026. Now Naxalism has ended. Similar concrete efforts should be made to rehabilitate the people affected by Naxal violence and improve their lives.
He said that the objective of 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' is not only to provide equipment to the disabled people but also to connect them with the mainstream of the society, make them self-reliant and help them live a respectable life.
Amit Shah expressed confidence that with the help of artificial limbs and other assistive devices, people affected by Naxal violence will be able to give a new direction to their lives. The government's effort is to provide necessary assistance to those whose lives have been affected due to violence and provide them opportunities to move forward.