After Maoist Exit, 70 Bastar Security Camps Being Converted Into Jan Suvidha Kendras

In Chhattisgarh, around 70 security camps in Bastar are being converted into Jan Suvidha Kendras, bringing banking, healthcare, welfare and digital government services to remote populations. The conversion follows the state's declaration, on March 31, 2026, that it is free from armed Maoists.

The first conversion was at Netanar village in Bastar, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Shaheed Veer Gundadhur Seva Dera Jan Suvidha Kendra in May. The Netanar premises had served as a security camp since 2013. The Chhattisgarh government named the centre after Veer Gundadhur, a tribal leader of the Bastar rebellion against colonial rule.

Shah said about 200 security camps exist in Bastar and that 70 of them will become service centres in the first phase, over roughly the next one and a half years. Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who holds the Home portfolio, has spoken of a larger figure, saying around 400 camps in interior Bastar would be phased out and turned into schools, hospitals and forest produce centres over time.

Officials say the centres offer more than 400 services in all. Bastar Collector Akash Chhikara told ThePrint that the camps had provided roads and secure access and were now being turned into development centres. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said one-third of the camps in areas cleared of Left-Wing Extremism are being converted.

The change is gradual. Bastar Superintendent of Police Shalabh Kumar Sinha said the dense forest areas are still being monitored through the camps, and that not every camp will become a service centre now.

The state's security gains underpin the plan. According to figures given by the Chhattisgarh government, 2,756 Maoists surrendered across the seven districts of the Bastar division, Kanker, Kondagaon, Bastar, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma, between January 1, 2024 and March 25, 2026. Deputy Chief Minister Sharma has said that no active Maoists of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee rank remain in Chhattisgarh.

The Netanar centre was inaugurated on a Monday in May, and the first phase of the programme covers 70 camps.