Principal Secretary of Panchayats and Rural Development, M N Roy said: “Owing to political resistance, we could not reach out to Nandigram. I have not even visited the area after the panchayat elections and have not interacted with the locals.” I do not know what kind of rural development work is going on in Nandigram, he added.

The rural development department claims cooperative societies can uplift the underprivileged women of rural areas by implementing microfinance schemes. But the department has not been able to set up such societies in politically-disturbed areas.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), which works to provide easy credit to villagers, also finds itself in a fix over the situation. It has not received any report from its officials about the status of its operations in Nandigram.

“We do not have any report of how NABARD is working in Nandigram because we do not have access to the place. This is a sensitive issue and I cannot comment,” said A Ramanathan, Chief General Manager of NABARD.