The Deuba committee has asked the government not to shut the door to a dialogue with the Maoist rebels even if the conditions are not favourable. A source close to the committee has said that the government must have both a
short-term policy and a long-term policy to deal with the problems. In the long term the government should go for massive development of these affected areas. The committee has suggested a multi-pronged action consisting of
economic, political and social changes to solve the problem. It states that many unemployed youth are attracted to the Maoist cause because of the lack of opportunities in their areas. Maoists attract these youth with a ready supply
of money and arms.

The committee has criticised the government for not paying proper attention to the problem earlier and feels that had it done so the present crisis could have been averted. The committee is going to present its report as soon as the Prime Minister returns from New York. Earlier it had been stated that since the groundwork for the meeting had not been prepared there would be no dialogue between the two sides. Now Deuba is op imistic that the talks will move ahead. He has asked that allarmed action be stopped while the talks are going on. He has asked the leader of the rebels to consider this point very seriously.

Sources say Deuba is waiting for a reply from the rebels. Another source points out that contact between the rebels and Deuba which was earlier broken has now been re-established.