• Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Left Wing Extremism (LWE) will be totally eliminated from the country in two years and stressed the need for constant surveillance in the areas freed from Naxals so that the problem does not revive there again.

• The year 2022 saw the lowest level of LWE violence and deaths in the last four decades, Shah said.

• The home minister chaired a meeting to review the security situation in LWE-affected states.

• The review meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also attended the meeting where Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were represented by state ministers.

Naxalite movement

• In 1967, a peasant uprising took place in the Naxalbari police station area of Darjeeling hills district in West Bengal. Beginning from the Naxalbari police station, the peasant movement spread to several states of India and came to be referred broadly as the Naxalite movement.

• The supporters of the Naxalite movement advocated the use of violent means to achieve their political goals. 

• According to the ministry of home affairs (MHA), the Communist Party of India (Maoist), is the major Left Wing Extremist (LWE) outfit responsible for a majority of incidents of violence and killing of civilians and security forces. The Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of CPI (Maoist), resorts to guerrilla warfare.

• According to the Centre, 90 districts in 11 states are considered LWE affected.

These states are:

1) Andhra Pradesh 

2) Bihar

3) Chhattisgarh

4) Jharkhand

5) Madhya Pradesh

6) Maharashtra

7) Odisha

8) Telangana

9) Uttar Pradesh

10) West Bengal 

11) Kerala.

• Over the years, governments have taken stern measures in dealing with the Naxalite movement. Human rights activists have criticised the governments for violating constitutional norms in dealing with the Naxalites.

Govt’s action plan to curb LWE

• As per Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, subjects of ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are with the state governments. The government of India has been supplementing the efforts of states affected by Left Wing Extremism. 

• The government of India has adopted an integrated approach to deal with the LWE by addressing the areas of security, development and promoting good governance simultaneously. 

• To achieve this, a National Policy and Action Plan has been put in place since 2015 that adopts a multi-pronged strategy in the areas of security, development, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities.

The security related measures include:

i) Providing Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

ii) Sanction of India Reserve (IR) battalions.

iii) Modernisation and upgradation of state police under the umbrella scheme ‘Modernisation of Police Forces’ (MPF scheme).

iv) Reimbursement of security related expenditure under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme.

v) Strengthening of Special Intelligence Branches/Special Forces of the states.

vi) Fortification of police stations under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS).

vii) Providing helicopters for anti-LWE operations.

viii) Assistance in training of state police through ministry of defence, central police organisations and Bureau of Police Research and Development.

ix) Sharing of intelligence.

x) Facilitating inter-state coordination.

• The CPI (Maoist), which is the major Left Wing Extremist organisation responsible for most incidents of violence/casualties, has been included in the Schedule of Terrorist Organisations, along with all its formations and front organizations under the existing Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

• Focused attention is paid to development. The Centre has launched special schemes for improving the basic infrastructure like road and telecom connectivity, and skill upgradation, etc. 

• Besides, the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, especially the provisions pertaining to allotment of title deeds to individuals and communities is also an area of priority. 

• To give further impetus, funds are provided for filling critical infrastructure gaps in public infrastructure and services which are of urgent nature under Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme for the most LWE affected districts.

• Resolute implementation of the National Policy and Action Plan by the government has resulted in significant improvement in the Left Wing Extremism scenario across the country. 

• According to the data provided by the Union home ministry, there has been a 52 per cent decline in total incidents of violence — from 14,862 (during May 2005 to April 2014) to 7,128 (during May 2014 to April 2023); 69 per cent decline in LWE-related deaths — from 6,035 (May 2005-April 2014) to 1,868 (May 2014-April 2023); and 72 per cent decline in the death of security personnel — from 1,750 (May 2005-April 2014) to 485 (May 2014-April 2023).

• In case of civilian deaths, there has been a 68 per cent decline — from 4,285 (May 2005-April 2023) to 1,383 (May 2016-April 2023); 53 per cent decline in districts reporting violence — from 96 (2010) to 45 (2022); and 62 per cent decline in police stations reporting violence — from 465 (2010) and 176 (2022).

• The central government has launched more than 14,000 projects under the Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme to accelerate development in the districts most affected by LWE.

• More than 80 per cent of these projects have been completed and Rs 3,296 crore released to LWE-affected states under the scheme.

• Under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), projects worth Rs 992 crore have been sanctioned for the construction of fortified police stations, strengthening of state intelligence branches and special forces of LWE-affected states.

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