New Delhi, May 13: For Salwa Judum, the state-sponsored anti-Naxalite “peace” campaign, the end may be drawing near.

The Centre, increasingly convinced of its futility, is considering winding the campaign up. Officials at the ministry of tribal affairs and members of panchayati raj, who are afraid that the campaign is turning tribals against one another, are especially opposing it.

Till last year, the Centre was lauding the “peace” campaign and the idea was to spread it further into other Naxalism-hit regions both inside and outside the state.

But now, critics believe that the vigilante groups are not only creating a civil war situation in the region by pitching tribals against each other, but that it has the potential to spell disaster by turning into a militia.

“The maximum tribal massacre started after Salwa Judum began in the state in 2005. People cannot be asked to rise up and be a buffer against insurgent groups. It is a disastrous course to take,” an official at the Union ministry of tribal affairs said. Its minister P.R. Kyndiah is known his strong anti-Salwa Judum views.

Similarly, ministry of panchayati raj and planning commission have asked the Union home ministry to wean Chhattisgarh away from Salwa Judum and concentrate more on socio-economic schemes. The Union home ministry is now planning to direct funds meant for Salwa Judum towards developmental activities.

A large portion of the security-related expenditure (SRE) funds, granted by the centre, flows into the campaign. Senior officials also believe that the funds are in fact getting diverted to the coffers of politicians and other government functionaries.

Since the launch of the campaign, some two years ago, 50 per cent of all Naxalism-related deaths have been reported from Chhattisgarh alone, reports the Asian Centre for Human Rights. “Out of 107 persons killed across 10 states in the first quarter of this year, 84 were from Chhattisgarh. The trend shows that the involvement of civilians has been disastrous,” said Suhas Chakma of the ACHR.

Absence of monetary support could mean an early end to Salwa Judum that was launched by Mahendra Karma, leader of the Opposition in Chhattisgarh state Assembly, in Dantewada district on June 2005.

Union home ministry seems to have also taken into account the criticism of Salwa Judum by central security forces deployed in Chhattisgarh, who drub it for their own reasons.

“It does make our task difficult. Instead of going against the Maoist guerrillas we have to guard tribals living in 20-odd Salwa Judum camps. A lot of our energy and resources get spent there. Moreover, it is becoming difficult to discipline the so-called special police officers (SPOs) who sometimes go berserk after getting access to weapons.”