Gadchiroli

State Planning Department

Gondia

Maharashtra

14 villages inand Chandrapur district will be felicitated by thefor not supporting Naxalites and prohibiting their entry in the villages.These villages will be rewarded through funding being granted to the Gram Panchayats for development work, including improvement of pipelines, digging of wells and constructing new gyms for the youth. Some villagers in these areas work as informers for the Naxals, providing them updates about actions of the police.To stop villagers from helping the Naxals, the State government has introduced the 'Gav Bandi' or 'Village Blockage to Naxals' scheme. Tarun Nagar, Srinagar, Bhagat Nagar, Sundar Nagar, Gitali, Shantigram and Jamgaon are few villages in Gadchiroli district and Khedepar, Kahali, Binzli and Dhanoli villages in thedistrict ofhave approved this proposal in the Gram Sabha. As a result, they have completely prohibited the entry of Naxals in these villages. "We will not support Naxals in any manner. By hiding them or providing them food, we will not help their activity at all," a villager said.To encourage the villagers, Rs 42 lakh in total and Rs 3 lakh per village have been sanctioned for developmental work. The local police is now hoping for positive response from other villages too.