Patnaik announces free smartphones for all households in Odisha’s Naxal hotbed

Striving to transform the Naxal hotbed in the ‘cut-off area’ of Odisha’s Malkangiri district into one of the developed places of the state, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said smartphones will be provided free of cost to all households in the region.

He also called upon Left-wing extremists (LWE) to shun violence, return to the mainstream and become part of developmental activities taking place in the ‘cut-off area’, encircled by water on three sides and another connecting to dense forests in Andhra Pradesh.

“The ‘cut-off area’ of Malkangiri always remains in my heart, and I will try my best to make it one of the developed areas in the state,” Patnaik said.