<p>Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said villages around Saranda forests require a lot of work, hinting that former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's initiatives had been inadequate.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"Much (work) has to be done. Problems are there. Roads are not good," Singh responded at a press conference to a query related to Saranda Action Plan initiated by Ramesh. Singh, who visited Thalkobad in Saranda of West Singhbhum district today, said jawans offered him ride on a motorcycle as roads were bad.<br /><br />"I learnt how to ride when I was a youth. Today I rode a motorcycle (while visiting the area)," Singh said.Ramesh, a former rural development minister, had initiated SAP and had claimed the forest was cleared of Maoists through developmental works under the plan.<br /><br />Ramesh had gone on record saying Left Wing Extremism could be dealt with security measures and developmental projects in Naxal-affected districts in Jharkhand.<br /><br />Singh, however, sidestepped queries about Ramesh's SAP initiatives taken in the Saranda forest during the UPA-II regime, but said the Narendra Modi government would face the Maoist challenge in a "balanced way" for an early solution.<br /><br />The Union Home Minister today reviewed the efforts being taken by the state government to root out Naxalism with Chief Minister Hemant Soren being present there.<br /><br />Jharkhand Chief Secretary Sudhir Prasad, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, Home Secretary N N Pandey and several senior police officers also attended the meeting held at the Raj Bhavan here.</p>
<p>Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said villages around Saranda forests require a lot of work, hinting that former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's initiatives had been inadequate.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"Much (work) has to be done. Problems are there. Roads are not good," Singh responded at a press conference to a query related to Saranda Action Plan initiated by Ramesh. Singh, who visited Thalkobad in Saranda of West Singhbhum district today, said jawans offered him ride on a motorcycle as roads were bad.<br /><br />"I learnt how to ride when I was a youth. Today I rode a motorcycle (while visiting the area)," Singh said.Ramesh, a former rural development minister, had initiated SAP and had claimed the forest was cleared of Maoists through developmental works under the plan.<br /><br />Ramesh had gone on record saying Left Wing Extremism could be dealt with security measures and developmental projects in Naxal-affected districts in Jharkhand.<br /><br />Singh, however, sidestepped queries about Ramesh's SAP initiatives taken in the Saranda forest during the UPA-II regime, but said the Narendra Modi government would face the Maoist challenge in a "balanced way" for an early solution.<br /><br />The Union Home Minister today reviewed the efforts being taken by the state government to root out Naxalism with Chief Minister Hemant Soren being present there.<br /><br />Jharkhand Chief Secretary Sudhir Prasad, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, Home Secretary N N Pandey and several senior police officers also attended the meeting held at the Raj Bhavan here.</p>