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.