'Maoists' invite Plan Panel team for talks

Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Feb 10 (PTI) In an apparent
deviation from its politics of violence, Maoists in India have
invited a visiting Planning Commission team here to hold
discussions with them about the problems of the rural people.

The invitation was communicated through an open letter
signed by the Secretary of Communist Party of India -(Maoists)
Regional Committee Rakesh, and published in some newspapers
here in India's eastern state of Jharkhand Monday.

A plan panel team had recently visited the
naxal-affected Ghatsila sub-divison of East Singhbhum
regarding some proposed central government pilot projects
aimed at countering extremism.

The letter, written in Bengali, was addressed to the
team members - B K Jain, Kameshwar Ojha, R N Despande and Anup
Srivastav.

The Maoists said that they would ensure the visiting
team's security and such a meeting will enable them to
directly communicate to the government the difficulties that
the rural masses are facing.

The regional committee had been highlighting the
problems of the rural people through posters, distribution of
pamphlets or calling bandhs, the letter said.