NEW DELHI: Noting that ‘Bharat’ is determined to uproot Naxalism for good by March 31, 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the country has achieved a new milestone by significantly reducing the number of districts “most affected by Left-Wing Extremism” to just six from 12.
The Home Minister said, “Taking a giant stride towards building a Naxal-free Bharat, today our nation achieved a new milestone by significantly reducing the number of districts most affected by left-wing extremism to just 6 from 12. The Modi government is building a Sashakt, Surakshit and Samridh Bharat with a ruthless approach to Naxalism and relentless efforts for all-pervasive development.”
Later, in a statement, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said, “The total number of districts affected by Naxalism in the country was 38. Among these, the number of most affected districts has reduced to 6 from 12, the number of Districts of Concern has also come down to 6 from 9, and the number of other LWE-affected Districts has also been reduced from 17 to 6.”
The most Naxal-affected districts included 4 districts from Chhattisgarh (Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Sukma), 1 from Jharkhand (West Singhbhum) and 1 from Maharashtra (Gadchiroli), it added.
“Similarly, out of the total 38 affected districts, the number of ‘Districts of Concern’, where additional resources need to be intensively provided, include Andhra Pradesh (Alluri Sitarama Raju), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat), Odisha (Kalahandi, Kandhamal, and Malkangiri) and Telangana (Bhadradri-Kothagudem),” the statement read.
Due to persistent action against Naxalism, the number of Other LWE-affected Districts has also decreased from 17 to 6. These include districts from Chhattisgarh (Dantewada, Gariaband, and Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki), Jharkhand (Latehar), Odisha (Nuapada), and Telangana (Mulugu).
In the statement the MHA said, ‘The Most Affected Districts and Districts of Concern’ are given financial assistance of Rs. 30 crore and Rs. 10 crore respectively by the Centre as part of Special Central Assistance (SCA) to fill the gaps in public infrastructure and special projects taken up in these districts are provide funds as per needs.
“The rapid improvement in the LWE scenario in the last one year is primarily due to the establishment of new security camps in the insurgency-affected core areas and development-oriented works such as expansion of roads, transport facilities, water, electricity and other welfare schemes of the government reaching the villagers,” it noted.