Hyderabad, July 21: The Andhra Pradesh government today lifted the ban on the People’s War Group and six allied organisations as part of its initiative for peace talks with the Naxalite outfit.

The decision to end the embargo, a key demand of the rebel group, came after four hours of talks at the secretariat between home minister K. Jana Reddy and civil rights activists and PWG emissaries.

The ban expires at midnight.

The . Janardhan Reddy government had in 1992 imposed the ban under the Andhra Pradesh Public Securities Act. It was relaxed for 18 months when .T. Rama Rao took over as chief minister in January 1995. . Chandrababu Naidu, who toppled NTR, re-imposed the ban in 1996.

However, the ban on the PWG under the Prevention of Terrorism Act will remain effective till October.

Today’s decision is another major step towards creating a healthy atmosphere for negotiations. The government has already announced a three-month ceasefire in all police operations against the PWG, withdrawn cash awards on all top rebel leaders and also allowed the Naxalites to air their political views freely in villages.

The home minister said the government has been interacting with the rebels through correspondence and press statements for the last two months. “They have accepted our appeal not to wander in villages with arms. They have also been observing the ceasefire with sincerity,” Reddy said.

“Looking at the positive response towards peace efforts, it has been decided not to extend the ban ordinance on the PWG and its allied organisations,” the minister added.

Poet Vara Vara Rao and G. Kalyan Rao, the president of a revolutionary writers’ association — two of the negotiators earlier named by the PWG — and retired IAS official S.R. Sankaran, the mutually accepted mediator, described the talks as “fruitful”.

“Today’s agenda centred only on lifting of the ban,” said Vara Vara Rao who insisted that the government should lift the ban and not just allow the ban order to lapse.

The home minister said the demand for withdrawal of the ban had come from many public platforms, civil rights groups and the intelligentsia.