Many initiatives including opening up schools, providing foodgrains, laying drinking water pipelines, distributing livestock to villagers, starting bus service with police escort were taken on Thursday. “Our primary aim is to provide relief and drinking water to villagers, opening up schools and running transport system,” said Milk Commissioner Barun Roy, who is stationed at Lalgarh.

The secretaries, stationed in Lalgarh, Pirakata and Ramgarh visited some gram panchayat offices and spoke to village leaders.

“Many people could not get foodgrains because they do not have ration cards and other government documents. We have ordered that even a written document from the panchayat will be sufficient for obtaining the relief. We have asked the ration department to provide new ration cards to villagers within three days,” added Roy.

The administration also conducted a raid in Lalgarh town and seized a number of ration cards from a dealer, Tuhinsubhro Tiwari. Dealers in the area allegedly keep the ration cards of villagers with them and deny them rations.

The team of secretaries also asked the state transport department to run special bus service from Midnapore town to Lalgarh and six buses have been pressed into service from Thursday. From Friday, private bus operators and state transport buses will also run between Lalgarh and Goaltore, Dherua, Midnapore to Dherua and other routes. “We have asked the police to provide escorts to the buses when they pass through the Maoist-hit areas,” Barun Roy added.

The government has drawn up projects to provide water through pipelines in Lalgrah and surrounding areas. At present, there is only one pipeline, which covers 10 moujas with around 10,000 people. Besides strengthening the existing pipeline, three more pipeline systems will be initiated at Pirakata, Kantapahari and Ramgarh. “We need to do extensive digging to lay the pipelines. Therefore, we have sought security for our workers and officials,” said Sourav Das, Principle Secretary, Public Health Education department.

An urgent initiative has also been taken to open schools in the area, which are presently serving as camps for security personnel. The administration is shifting the camps out of the schools and has identified land for setting up four semi-permanent camps housing 800 personnel now stationed in the Lalgarh area.

“We want the schools to start as soon as possible and therefore directed to shift the camps. The district magistrate has been asked to provide books to all schools by Friday,” said Das.

The administration is also providing livestock, including cows, chicken and goats, to villagers from Friday. A number of families have been identified who will receive the livestock. The administration has also planned to immediately develop the Largarh health centre into a 35-bed rural hospital. The Block Development Officer has been asked to provide for additional stocks of drugs.

“At present there is only one doctor at the health centre. But we have sanctioned four more doctors. They have arrived and one will join shortly,” added Das.

Cops to move plea to withdraw UAPA charges on Bankura ‘Maoists’

The Bankura Police is likely to move a petition seeking withdrawal of the Unlawful Activities (Preventionin) Act (UAPA) under which the two suspected Maoists were booked.

On June 29 ACJM court, Khatra, had remanded Gopinath Murmu and Kanchan Murmu in police custody for 13 days. They will be produced in the court on July 12.

Vishal Garg, Superintendent of Police, Bankura, said they have consulted lawyers on the legal procedure of withdrawal of the Central Act. Garg hinted that a petition would be moved on the next date of production the Maoists. He said Bankura police would act according to the instructions of the home secretary.

Gopinath and Kanchan were arrested from a forest near Kargil More in the Sarenga police station area while allegedly trying to plant a landmine. The police had slapped UAPA against them.

Advocate Ranjan Roy, a criminal lawyer practising in the High Court, said: “The state government will have to move a petition to the ACJM court just to inform it that the police do not want to prosecute them under the central Act. The court has nothing to say when the police want to withdraw the central Act from them.”

Asimesh Goswami, Public Prosecutor of the state government in the Calcutta High Court, said the police will have to lodge a separate criminal case as the UAPA will be withdrawn. The police have already brought the charges of anti-national activities against them. Goswami said that the police should book them under Section 121 of IPC (waging war against the government) after withdrawal of UAPA.