Introduction :
Naxalites of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), or Maoists in short, founded in September 2004, is the largest and most lethal Naxalite outfit in India having a presence –– intense to nominal –– in 20 states, spread across 203 districts.
To run a war machinery of this size the outfit requires large amounts of funds.
Financial Policy Adopted by them :
At the 9th/Unity Congress, held in 2007 January, the CPI (Maoist) adopted a document entitled “Our Financial Policy”. This document enumerates the Maoists’ financial policy, identifies sources of finances, mentions areas of expenditure and issues guidelines to avoid wrong, wasteful expenditure.
Actors :
Through a consultative process involving various levels the Central Committee fixes the annual amount to be collected at the all-India level. The Zonal Committee appears to be the basic unit responsible for conveying the decision on the amount to be collected from each source.
Sources :
Money is collected from individuals as well as businesses –– ranging from petty to big industries.
Sources at a Glance
- Government Works and Schemes
- Industry and Businesses
- Social Institutions
- Infrastructure
- People
- Membership Fees
- Supporters/Sympathizers
- Revolutionary Taxes in cash and kind
- Fines on Defaulters
Storage :
There is some vagueness about what amounts are stored at each level, but
certainly money is delivered to the next higher Committee. Possibly,
some amount is retained at each level. At each level only two people are
aware of where the money is stored.
Income and Expenditure :
The Maoists have a meticulous system of accounting and are very good at
book-keeping. As has been mentioned earlier, each level in the hierarchy
maintains a detailed statement of expenditure, while those responsible
for collecting money also maintain a detailed account of the amounts
collected.
Monitoring:
Monitoring and audit is pretty strict within the outfit. Each cadre has
to maintain a detailed account of expenditure meticulously. A
consolidated expenditure sheet of the squad is prepared by the Commander
and submitted to the higher committee at regular meetings.
Conclusion :
The Maoists have been collecting not less than Rs 140 crore annually
from a variety of sources: businesses –– big and small –– industry,
contractors engaged in various trades, corrupt government officials and
political leaders. The largest and principal sources of income for the
Maoists are mining industry, PWD works and collection of tendu leaves
