Raipur

The Bastar division comprises seven districts of Chhattisgarh, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Sukma.

Recently, videos of some former Maoists from Bastar walking a ramp in Raipur went viral, suggesting a return to peace.

However, rehabilitating former armed cadres, many of whom were highly indoctrinated, is hardly a cakewalk.

The state is treading cautiously, keeping former hardcore Maoists in rehab centers in an effort to shield them from a possible backlash from villagers and to prevent renewed radicalization.

He surrendered in March this year, just days before the government's deadline.

[suspenseful music] Podium, however, believes that the surrendered cadres, with a few exceptions, may be welcomed back to their villages thanks to the goodwill they had earned through their work in the past.

Gaurav Kumar Singh, district magistrate of Raipur, says former Maoists have to win the trust of villagers for a quick return to normalcy in areas once considered highly sensitive.

Singh, who served as chief executive officer of the Zila Panchayat in Dantewada between 2016 and 2018, recalls that several civil and police officers had made deliberate efforts to earn the confidence of local communities, even at the height of insurgency.

The government plans to award 11 Airports Authority of India airports to private players under the Public-Private Partnership model, grouping them into five bundles.

The proposed airports include Varanasi, Tirupati, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar and Raipur, along with six smaller airports.

The Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee has given in-principle approval to the proposal, under which each bundle will be awarded to a single concessionaire for 50 years.

The total investment by private operators is estimated at INR 8,722 crore.