Naxalism gets corporatized: 5,000 crore budget target, revenue from opium farming too!
Patna: according to a report in the Hindi press, the Central Committee of the Maoists in India met in the Saranda forests at the Jharkhand border and took some vital decisions for the year 2010-2011. Very much in the manner of a state government, the core body set the target of Rs 5,000 as the revenue target to be met through collection of levies from the different states, to be collected through its district units from businesses, small and big industries, mines as well as governments servants. The committee decided to raise their target from Rs 3000 crores [2009-2010] to the present level in view of the high inflation.
In this highly decentralized model, the district units must deliver what the target dictates using their own resources and ingenuity. Brick kilns, contractors, school teachers and anyone making a living in the area will be compelled to cough up the increased levies fixed by the respective district branches.
This highly corporatized model of functioning however goes wrong at a very crucial point – the Naxal regime also aims at cultivating poppy plants in remote villages where the farmers are misleadingly told they are growing a medicinal herb. According to reports, an acre of land under poppy can yield up to a crore in the drug market. Bihar police in the recent past has already raided poppy fields in Nawadah and Kishenganj.
All this clearly means that states like Bihar now have to face the most sophisticated form of organized crime. This is no longer about the blundering kidnappers and highwaymen from the earlier days. The Bihar police also has to acquire a competing level of sophistication in a hurry. Believe it or not, this requires an almost academic bent of mind – requiring grasp of organization theory, network analysis, supply chains and of course communication technology.
The only mitigating factor in this may be that the opium business will soon eclipse the nobility of the cause, pretended and otherwise, and the police can hope for increased support from the villagers and tribals in the coming days.
A question may be asked – is this a new beginning for Naxalism in the region or just the beginning of their end?