NAGPUR: At just 10, Ramesh Renkatvo left his home in Itunar village of Etapalli taluka, drawn into the world of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) without understanding where it would lead him.Around 13 years later, after experiencing the hardships of life in the forests, he decided to walk away from the movement and surrender.Today, Renkatvo operates a crane at a steel factory in Gadchiroli, earns a steady salary and lives with his wife and four daughters in a house he built under the govt’s rehabilitation scheme. “I have gone through a lot since I joined the movement. Today, I have a stable job, a home and, most importantly, my children are growing up in a safe environment. I want my daughters to get education and have opportunities that I never had,” he said.For years after leaving the LWE movement, Renkatvo worked as a daily-wage labourer under a local contractor. His fortunes changed as industrialisation began taking root in Gadchiroli.With the expansion of the steel industry under chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s push for development in the district, he secured a job at a steel plant and moved from uncertain daily wages to a stable livelihood.His story is now being mirrored by several other former Maoists who joined the movement as children or teenagers, only to eventually surrender after years of hardship.Lloyds Metal & Energy Ltd was the first industry in the district to employ former Maoists, hiring around 24 of them, including eight couples.The initiative was driven by the company’s MD B Prabhakaran, who personally met the former rebels before offering them an opportunity to start afresh with dignified employment.Manium Sonu Atla joined the rebels in 2011 at the age of 13 after seeing armed cadres visit his village. “Villagers used to give them food and other material. I saw them wearing uniforms and thought we too would get a job like them, but the reality was far different,” he said.As police patrolling increased after 2014, access to villages for food and supplies became increasingly difficult. Atla eventually surrendered in 2019.He and his wife received 4.5 lakh each, which was the bounty on them, apart from a plot and assistance under Gharkul Scheme to construct a house. Today, the couple has moved on from their past and is building a new life.The transformation is now extending beyond employment.Several former Maoists employed in industries are training others in skills.
