Police have started a weekly market in the Naxal-hit Abujhmad area in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, with an aim to fight Naxalism by linking locals with employment opportunities and providing a huge relief to villagers who had to walk several miles to get daily provisions, an official said on Sunday.
After a demand from locals, the weekly market was started at Kadmeta village near a police camp on Saturday, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Girija Shankar Jaiswal said.
"The market in Kademeta, which is at a junction of five districts (Dantewada, Bijapur, Kondagaon, Jagdalpur and Narayanpur), will cover over two dozen villages in the area and link villagers with employment opportunities,” he said.
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Kademeta is located in the restive Abujhmad area, about 60 km from the Narayanpur district headquarters, where villagers had prepared an action plan to start the weekly market, but due to the resistance from ultras and threats, the plan was earlier dropped, he said.
Earlier, people had to walk nearly 30 km to buy items of daily needs, he said.
With the establishment of a police camp in the area in 2020, locals have developed a sense of confidence and they recently submitted an application to police and the district administration, demanding setting up of a weekly market following which the latest move was initiated, the official said.
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The weekly market is going to be held every Saturday, the official said.
The police made a place at Kademeta fit for the weekly market after undertaking a cleanliness drive, he said.
