In a perfect case of 'money does the talking', poor villagers who were earlier lured by the promise of better living conditions by Maoists are now being lured by the compensatory money being offered under various central governmental schemes.

Budhunu Munda, a Maoist woman rebel, informed police that she was misguided by Maoists as they lured innocent people in the name of money, food and shelter. “They told us they would give us shelter, food and clothing. We thought we would have a good life but they didn't give us anything. They betrayed us,” Munda told the Aurungal Police.

Besides, it was not an easy life to work with the Maoists and as Munda said, life was very difficult in the camp. “We were made to work hard, walk through the dense forests, and were also made to climb hills. So, we didn't want that sort of life,” Munda informed.

Difficult life may be one side of the coin but given the rising number of surrenders, it seems the rehabilitation packages of government are working to their best capacities. Only last month, NDTV reported the surrender of 145 Maoist rebels in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. Maoist 'commander' Jagori Baske and her husband comrade Rajaram Soren surrendered to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on November 18 last year.

Speaking about the benefits, Munda will get after surrender, Narasingh Bhol, superintendent of police, Anugul was quoted by ANI as saying: “We are processing her case. Since she is involved in criminal cases, she might be categorised as category A in which she will get a compensatory rehabilitation of 2.5 lacs. And govt will also take care of her education if she wants to be educated or any vocational training can be imparted to her if she wants to get some training and get employed.