Raipur, Feb 2 : The growing Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh is leading to a loss of identity among tribal children who have lost their parents in the Naxalite attacks or whose parents have been lodged in Salwa Judum camps.

Gayatri Parivar, a self-help group has come to the rescue of these children and has already adopted 26 girls, from the Maoist affected area.

"Our People (members of Gayatri Parivaar) went to the Naxal (Maoist) affected areas. We brought these girls here because they didn''''t want them to suffer in camps. We have converted our Intensive care Unit into a hostel, to provide shelter to them," said Dr. Sandhya Madriya, a doctor.

Also, more than 105 children affected by Maoist violence are living in shelters provided by other organisations affiliated to Gayatri Parivar in Rajnandgaon, Raipur, Jagdalpur and Gurur.

Maoists, control vast tracts of rural land in other states including Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. They are also active in some areas of Orissa, Maharashtra and Karnataka

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of farmers and the poor, which has claimed thousands of lives.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described it as the country''''s gravest internal security threat. (ANI)