It said rural schemes, including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, cannot be implemented properly for this reason in the district.

Panchayat Minister Anisur Rahman today said in the Assembly that all the 53 gram panchayats in the Maoist-hit areas are either defunct or functioning irregularly. The government is trying to operate these GP offices from different places, he said.

Officials in the panchayat department said many elected members in GPs have not been attending offices since early 2009, when Maoists called for a boycott of the local administration and forced elected GP members to stay away from their offices.

Important schemes like rural health and sanitation programmes, special schemes for old-age people, public distribution system and other schemes have been stalled, affecting at least one million people, they said.

Rahman said the worst-hit areas are Binpur-1 and Binpur - 2 blocks, while another seven blocks are functioning only partially. “Two block offices have been shifted to other safer places. If the government machinery cannot function properly, how can schemes be implemented? Unless normalcy is restored, people of the region will be deprived of the government services,” said Rahman.

Congress Legislative Party leader Manas Bhuinya, who hails from Midnapore, said none of the offices in the region remained open for a long period. “Why the minister is saying that some of the offices are functioning partially. I am sure the employees cannot go to any of the offices. It is a total collapse, not partial,” he said.