Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi Friday said development was the answer to left-wing extremism that was posing a major challenge to public order and governance in several regions, especially tribal areas, of the country.

“If we implement the developmental programmes, we will be able to bring back many of them (left-wing extremists) to the national mainstream,” Gandhi said while opening a conference on tribal empowerment, organised by the Mahila Congress here.

“The central government and state governments are duty-bound to implement the developmental schemes,” Gandhi said.

The central government is planning a new legislation that will give the tribals economic dividends when their land is taken over for mining operations, she added.

Over the years, the Congress governments at the centre had enacted several laws and implemented many schemes which empowered tribals and helped their progress, Gandhi said.

“Indiraji (late prime minister Indira Gandhi) is still fondly remembered in tribal homes in the country,” she said. Gandhi said the steps taken by Rajiv Gandhi (her husband and former prime minister) enabled tribal women to occupy key positions in panchayats and other civic bodies.

India is home to about 85 million tribal, or aboriginal population, spread across the length and breadth of the country and divided into hundreds of groups, each with its own unique culture, lifestyle and traditions. They largely live off the land and forests but have lost their basic means of livelihood over the years as large infrastructure projects like dams and factories have displaced them from their territory where they lived for generations.