During the last 10 years, incidents of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence have come down by 65.7 percent with 374 incidents being reported in 2024 as compared to 1,091 in 2014, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Parliament on Tuesday.
In a reply in Lok Sabha, Mos for Home Affairs Rai said that the number of deaths — civilian and security force — has also reduced by 52 per cent during this period from 310 deaths in 2014 to 150 in 2024.
He said there has also been a sharp decline in the number of districts affected by LWE. The LWE-affected districts were reduced from 126 to 90 districts by April 2018, further to 70 by July 2021 and then to 38 by April 2024.
The MoS said to address the LWE problem holistically, a “National Policy and Action Plan” was approved in 2015. It envisages a multi-pronged strategy involving security-related measures, development interventions, and ensuring the rights and entitlements of local communities.
On the security front, the Central government assists the LWE-affected states with capacity building by providing Central Armed Police battalions, training and funds for modernisation of state police forces, equipment and arms, sharing of intelligence, and construction of fortified police stations.
Under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme, assistance is provided for recurring expenditures relating to the operational and training needs of security forces, expenditures incurred by the states for the rehabilitation of the surrendered LWE cadres, community policing, village defence committees and publicity material.
During 2014-15 to 2024-25, Rs 3,260.37 crore has been released under this scheme, the MoS said.
MoS Rai said that on the development side, apart from flagship schemes, the Central government has taken several specific initiatives in LWE-affected states, with a special thrust on the expansion of road network, improving telecommunication connectivity, skilling and financial inclusion.
He said for the expansion of road connectivity, 14,607 km of roads have been constructed and for improving telecom connectivity in LWE-affected areas, 7,768 towers have been commissioned.
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With regard to skill development, 46 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 49 Skill Development Centres (SDCs) have been made functional, he said.
For financial inclusion, the Department of Posts has opened 5,731 Post Offices with banking services in LWE-affected districts. Additionally, 1,007 bank branches and 937 ATMs have been opened and 37,850 Banking Correspondences (BCs) have been made operational in most LWE-affected districts.
