The Union government is planning to directly intervene in districts hit by Left-wing extremism (LWE) to ensure successful implementation of Central schemes. Field-level assessments indicate that states have put up a dismal show in executing these programmes. The Planning Commission will introduce stricter guidelines with exclusive focus on governance in its proposed integrated action plan for the LWE districts. Given the sensitivities involved in recommending a more proactive role for the Union government in the 35 Naxal-hit districts,the Planning Commission recently equipped itself with an opinion from the Attorney General on the scope of the Centres powers over states with regard to Schedule Areas. Schedule Areas,notified under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution,have predominantly tribal populations. A senior Planning Commission official said that the advice from the AGs office has been favourable. The Attorney General has opined that the Centre can give directions to states which include Schedule Areas, the official,who did not wish to be quoted,told The Indian Express. The Centre may choose to ask the respective Governors to review and monitor government schemes,the official added. The 35 LWE districts are in nine states Jharkhand,Bihar,Chhattisgarh,Madhya Pradesh,Orissa,Andhra Pradesh,West Bengal,Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. One of the biggest grievances in these regions has been the lack of will shown by the states to adopt the spirit of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act,1996. PESA mandates the devolution of decision-making from the Centre to the lowest unit of governance,the Gram Sabha or Village Assembly. In 15 of the 35 districts,provisions of the PESA must,and can,be made applicable, the official said. Recently,the Plan panel sent its officials to all 35 districts to check if Central government programmes were aiding economic development. The report is far from encouraging. Some schemes such as the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojana have failed to make any progress in the districts, the official said. The integrated action plan of the Planning Commission will present a critical essay on the ongoing efforts in these districts and suggest the weeding out of some schemes. The action plan,which is still on the drawing board,may include an outlay of Rs 150 crore per district,the officials said. This would take the outlay for the Naxal-hit districts to over Rs 5,000 crore. Some districts such as Gadchiroli have even suggested setting up of a hospital,the cost of which alone could be over Rs 1,000 crore. But this may be dealt with while formulating state plans, the official said.
