Puvarti(Chhattisgarh) : As the sun sets behind tall trees, a soft orange light spreads across Puvarti, once the epicentre of Maoism in the Bastar region and home to slain Maoist commander Madvi Hidma and his deputy, Barse Deva, who surrendered on January 2 this year. Nearly 100 kilometres from Sukma’s district headquarters, Puvarti is surrounded by forested hills on three sides. Outsiders were not allowed to enter the village between 2000 and February 2024, when security forces established a camp. Across Bastar division, officials said 31 new primary schools have been approved and nearly 50 previously shut schools reopened. (HT photo.)

Outside Hidma’s home, his mother, Pojje, who is in her mid-sixties, is sweeping the mud floor of her small hut made of thatch and bamboo. She testifies to the winds of change. “I can now see children walking to school every morning inside the Puvarti security camp,” she said but spoke nothing about her son’s death.

“We will get electricity for the first time soon,” Pojje said in the Gondi dialect.

She added that she owned a small piece of land, which was unregistered, where she cultivates paddy and millets. When asked why she was not availing rice from the fair price shop operating inside the camp, she said she was aware of it but neither her Aadhaar card nor ration card had been made. Pojje lives alone since her three daughters got married.

Around 200 metres from Pojje’s hut stands a small thatched house belonging to Barse Deva. Sitting on a plastic chair outside the house, Barse Budhram, Deva’s brother, said the change in the village was evident. “A few months after the camp was opened, there were difficulties, as jawans used to call villagers regularly for questioning and other purposes, but now things are normal. The roads have reached Puvarti and in the coming time things will be better for us,” Budhram said.

He added that many residents across Puvarti’s seven paras (sub-villages) now have ration cards. “The ration is distributed in the camp as there is a PDS shop, and all medical facilities are in the hospital which is also in the camp,” he said.

The family has seven other members, including Barse’s wife, two children, a sister and another brother. The family is dependent on farming for their living.

The village is now connected to Silger, nearly seven kilometres away, through a mud road. Three iron bridges were built to make the stretch motorable. A security camp has also been set up inside the village, where the Central Reserve Police Force has established a small hospital. In addition, a fair price shop and a school have opened, with children from the village now enrolled and attending classes. Electricity poles and mobile towers have been erected and water taps installed. Barse Lakhman, 10, who joined the school at the camp a year ago, said there were two teachers posted there. “Most of the children have started going to school and they are enjoying it. I want to become a teacher after my studies,” he said.

Earlier this week, the government announced that it had met its target of freeing the country of left-wing extremism. In the last two years, several previously inaccessible villages across all seven districts of Bastar division have seen security camps established, followed by the rollout of basic government facilities such as roads, ration shops, schools and health services.

The state government has rolled out the Niyad Nellanar Yojana, aimed at extending governance and basic services to 494 villages located within a 10-km radius of 86 security camps in the Bastar region.

The officials said 31 new primary schools have been approved and nearly 50 previously shut schools reopened. They added that 49 fair price shops, 185 anganwadi centres and 19 sub-health centres have been sanctioned. To benefit from government schemes, around 108,000 Aadhaar cards and 59,488 Ayushman cards have been issued.

Around 116 all-weather roads and 112 mobile towers, of which 43 are operational, have been approved. The government has set targets to electrify all villages in the region by December 2027 and ensure banking or postal access within a five-kilometre radius. Across Bastar division, more than 33,000 houses have been sanctioned under PM Janman, with over 18,000 completed. A special project has approved 15,000 houses for Maoist-affected and surrendered families. Under the Chief Minister Rural Housing Scheme, 38,000 houses have been sanctioned, while 9,010 houses were approved under the Niyad Nellanar Yojana, officials said.

The Yojana is set to reach Puvarti in the next few months.

A senior intelligence officer, posted in the region, said that around a dozen armed Maoist cadres are still estimated to be active in Bastar.

Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sunderraj P, said Puvarti’s transformation reflected a broader shift in the region. “From a village once overshadowed by Maoist influence associated with Madvi Hidma and Barse Deva, Puvarti is today emerging as a story of resilience, stability and new beginnings, bringing renewed hope to local communities. The establishment of security camps and regular engagement with villagers have enhanced safety, mobility and confidence, encouraging greater participation in social and economic life,” he said.

The rise and fall of Hidma

Hidma was recruited by a Maoist leader, Badranna, in 1997 and was the first from Puvarti to join the force. Hidma went on to recruit more than 100 people from the area over the years. According to security officials, the village also functioned as the headquarters of a Maoists’ Battalion number 1, comprising around 140 heavily armed cadres, many of whom were handpicked by Hidma and Deva. “It was the village where many big ambushes on security personnel were planned. There was a big hut inside the village which was the war room of Maoists,” said a senior officer posted in the Puvarti camp.

Hidma was killed in an encounter on November 18, 2025, in the Maredumilli forest area of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in Andhra Pradesh, near the Chhattisgarh–Telangana border. Weeks later, Barse Deva, who was considered one of the top commanders after Hidma and headed Battalion Number 1, surrendered on January 2, 2026, along with several other cadres.

In the fading light, Pojje finished sweeping the floor and turned to her water pot. “Things have changed now,” she said, taking weary steps to the local handpump.

Budhram, Deva’s brother, echoed her, saying change was visible but it was slow. “We want peace in this area. We want to study, we want to do jobs.”