New Delhi, Aug. 17: Naxalites are regularly recruiting young children in their cadres known as “Bal Dasta”.
“As per the available inputs, the CPI (Maoist) recruit young children from time to time. Such children squads are known as ‘Bal Dasta’ and ‘Bal Sangham’,” the minister of state for home affairs, Mr Ajay Maken, told Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Mr Maken also informed the House that the government has revised the surrender and rehabilitation guidelines in the Naxal-hit areas.
“In order to bring Naxalites into the mainstream, the states have their own surrender and rehabilitation policies. The government has approved the revised guidelines for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of the Naxalites in the Maoist-hit states, which inter alia provides for an immediate grant of `1.5 lakh, a stipend of `2,000 for three years, vocational training and incentives for surrender of weapons,” he said.
The state governments deal with various issues related to Naxalite activities in the states. The Centre supplements their efforts over a wide range of schemes, both on security and development fronts, Mr Maken added.