Union Home Minister P Chidambaram urged the captains of India Inc to invest in naxal-affected areas too for the upliftment of the country.
He asked them to visit and study the problems of the people in these areas and provide necessary guidance to them. Chidambaram was speaking at the CII conference in New Delhi on Thursday.
Jharkhand is one of the worst sufferers of the naxal attacks, said Chidambaram.
"Though Jamshetji Tata could strike a rapport with the local tribals one hundred years ago to set up mines, his future generation failed to do the same," said Chidambaram.
He encouraged Indian businessmen to keep profit and loss aside and invest where it is needed the most.
A number of schools, bridges, towns, transmission towers, and power houses had become the targets of Naxal wrath in recent years, he said.
"When China adds 1,000 megawatts of power every year, we have not been able to achieve the same. I wonder whether we could achieve even revised targets of power generation here," Chidambaram added.
He lamented that some of the members of the elite society have been writing in favour of the naxals. He also mentioned that non-governmental organisations have been supporting naxalism but not one of them has come forward to support the government initiatives to win back the confidence of the people.
"Some of those people who have been favouring naxals are in high positions at various levels," pointed out the minister.
He appealed to CII to send its teams to various states including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Bihar to talk to the people and persuade them to leave naxalism and join the mainstream.
