RAIPUR: Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the Bastar region, Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vikas Sheel directed officials to prepare the roadmap for ‘Niyad Nellanar 2.0’ after reviewing development work carried out in the region under the existing scheme.
In a meeting at the state secretariat, officials reviewed the implementation of the “Niyad Nellanar” scheme in Bastar division. The government reported that basic services and infrastructure had expanded in remote forest villages previously affected by Left-Wing Extremism (LWE).
The review highlighted a shift in Bastar’s landscape. Basic government services, once hindered by the presence of the banned CPI (Maoist), have reportedly reached the remote “Vanchal” (forest) villages.
Villagers in deep interior areas are finally receiving basic identification and welfare tools, including ration cards, Ujjwala gas connections, and bank passbooks. Permanent housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is replacing mud huts, while rural employment has stabilised through MNREGA projects.
According to the review, electricity lines have penetrated the forest, and solar lighting has reached thousands of households previously left in the dark. A total of 425 villages have been brought onto the public transport map for the first time. Under the ‘Chief Minister’s Bus Service Scheme’, 52 buses are now navigating 50 previously inaccessible routes.
The government also stated that mobile connectivity had been established in 3,056 villages, ending long communication gaps in several areas.