PMRDFs Caught Between Police And Maoists

Many professionals are giving up their jobs to become Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellow (PMRDF), as part of govt’s initiative to:
- Mitigate poverty
- Enhance the living conditions of rural India
- Reduce the developmental and governance deficits in areas affected by extremist violence.
Their job profile involves meeting people, enquiring about their problems, inspecting village infrastructure and others relating to agriculture, healthcare, education.
The high demands of the job not only take a toll on them, but also leave them susceptible to abduction by Maoists.
Some have also been detained by police for alleged Maoists links without even the registration of an FIR.
When work is limited to the village, the Maoists do not offer resistance to these PMRDFs who mainly depend upon the villagers while travelling in interior areas.
Currently around 156 PMRDFs are working in 82 districts across nine States and a new batch of 140 professionals is now undergoing training in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Read at:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/caught-between-maoists-and-police-they-step-on-minefield/article6071116.ece

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