The presence and growth of the Maoist movement today is essentially due to the dire socio-economic situation of people living in the "affected" parts of the country. Like at the time of the Naxalbari upsurge 39 years ago, even today it is a combination of stark poverty, an indifferent or even exploitative state machinery and oppressive feudal/business elites in different parts of the country that has been at the heart of the Maoist insurgency.