India government seeking missionaries’ help in Maoist areas
(January 16, 2013) The Indian government is reportedly seeking help from missionary
groups, including the Church, in conducting development work in areas plagued by Maoist
insurgencies. “We have asked Caritas, which is already involved in development activities
to spearhead the work in Maoist-controlled areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa
states,” press reports quoted Federal Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh as
saying in a letter he wrote to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. Ramesh said
Caritas was a social organization and should not be seen as a religious entity. The
Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, a Hindu group, has been approached to conduct similar
work in Chhattisgarh’s Narainpur district. Fr Varghese Mattamana, Caritas’ executive
director, said he will meet the minister next week and discuss development programmes
in the three states where they are already working. Education, health and social
development have been the core areas of concern, he said. “We have already helped
the government implement many of its schemes,” he added.