Bijapur, West Singhbhum Districts Remain LWE-Affected After Centre’s Deadline
According to a Union home ministry communication sent to the affected states on March 27, a number of interventions were being made, both security and development related, as a result of which, there has been a marked improvement in the LWE scenario.
New Delhi: On the heels of the March 31 deadline for the elimination of Naxalism coming to a close, the Centre has listed only two districts — Bijapur in Chhattisgarh and West Singhbhum of Jharkhand — in the category of left-wing extremism (LWE) affected districts in the country. Kanker in Chhattisgarh has been described as a ‘district of concern’.
The revelation on the shrinking red corridor came following a review of the categorisation of Maoist-affected districts undertaken by the Union home ministry. The Centre has listed 35 districts across nine states in the ‘legacy and thrust’ category.
The sharp decline in the number of Maoist-affected districts came against the backdrop of the Centre’s commitment for eliminating Naxalism by March 31 this year and sustained action against the ultras across the affected regions by the Central Reserve Police Force in conjunction with the respective state police forces.
In October last year, a similar review had listed 11 districts as LWE-affected, three districts most affected, four in the ‘districts of concern’ list. Another four districts were among ‘other LWE affected’ besides 27 classified as ‘legacy and thrust’ districts.
Following the latest review, the legacy and thrust districts include Alluri Sitarama Raju in Andhra Pradesh, four districts in Bihar: Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui and Lakhisarai; 11 in Chhattisgarh (Bastar, Narayanpur, Dhamtari, Kabirdham, Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai, Kondagaon, Rajnandgaon, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Gariaband, Sukma and Dantewada, besides Bokaro, Chatra and Latehar in Jharkhand.
Likewise, Balaghat and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and Gadhchiroli and Gondia in Maharashtra are in the legacy and thrust districts, along with nine in Odisha: Boudh, Sundargarh (Rourkela police district), Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabrangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada and Kandhamal.
According to a Union home ministry communication sent to the affected states on March 27, a number of interventions were being made, both security and development related, as a result of which, there has been a marked improvement in the LWE scenario. The ‘National Policy and Action Plan to Address Left Wing Extremism (LWE)’, approved in 2015, was being implemented to combat LWE holistically.
The categorisation of districts provides the basis for deployment of resources under various schemes. The evolving LWE situation necessitates a periodic review of the districts in order to ensure that the focus of anti-LWE efforts remains aligned to the ground realities, it said.
The districts covered under the security related expenditure (SRE) scheme have been again comprehensively revised. “The resource envelope will be utilised in a focused manner on the districts as per the revised categorisation,” the communication added.
The Centre’s letter was circulated to the home secretaries and Directors General of Police of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal.
