Chhattisgarh’s new Maoist rehabilitation policy leans heavily on bounties & cash rewards

This comes at a time when the government’s anti-insurgency push has intensified in the state – in the latest, 30 Maoists were gunned down in two separate encounters earlier this week.

Here’s what the policy says:

🔴 The policy promises to provide rehabilitation to surrendered Maoists in the form of assistance with children’s education and jobs. It also envisions financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh for civilians murdered by Maoists for “assisting the police”, and between Rs 15-25 lakh for anyone killed in a Maoist-attack. Besides, their families will also be provided financial assistance to build a home.

🔴 The policy encourages the red rebels to surrender with weapons: those surrendering with a light machine gun (LMG), for instance, are entitled to a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh, the highest for such cases.  In cases where 80 percent of the Maoist unit surrenders together, the reward will be doubled.

🔴 Surrendered Maoists are entitled to financial assistance of Rs 50,000 lakh. Months after the state government unveiled a new industrial policy encouraging private companies to hire surrendered insurgents, the new rehabilitation policy too promises 40 percent salary reimbursement in such cases, with a limit of up to Rs 5 lakh.

🔴 The policy puts a bounty of Rs 1 lakh even for foot soldiers. Meanwhile, security personnel who help in the capture or surrender of a Maoist will get an award of Rs 5 lakh, or 10 percent of the bounty.

🔴 The policy also envisions a committee to consider dropping all charges against the surrendered person subject to good behaviour for six months.

🔴 Surrendered red rebels with a bounty of over Rs 5 lakh will receive 1,742 sq. ft of land to make a home or 1 hectare agriculture land. Instead of land, they can also be given Rs 2 lakh.

🔴 Women be provided monetary aid and given loans to start a business.

Since coming to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2023, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been intensifying its anti-Maoist operation in the state – while 219 Maoists were gunned down in 2024, the figure so far this year stands over 100.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has promised to eradicate Left Wing Extremism (LWE) by March 2026 – a deadline that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai reiterates after every major encounter.