New Delhi, April 15: In a first such official communication after its extensive operations, the Centre has informed state governments that there are no Naxal violence-affected districts in the country after more than five decades of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) having originated in India.
The declaration followed a high-level security review held early this month by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the mandated ‘National Policy and Action Plan to Address Left Wing Extremism (LWE)’ formulated in 2015.
Officials told PTI that the MHA issued a communication on April 8 to nine states, saying that a comprehensive security review completed after March 31 established that “no district in the country falls under the LWE-affected category”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed Parliament on March 30 that India was free from Maoists.
The high-level security review meeting was necessitated as the deadline set by the central government to end LWE in India ended on March 31.
The review ascertained the status of armed Naxal cadres, their capability to execute violence, the presence of “liberated” zones and the frequency of violent incidents in the affected states after March 31.
“India becoming free of Naxal violence is a historic achievement obtained through the continuous and coordinated efforts of the central and various state governments,” the ministry said, adding that the categorisation of LWE-affected districts in India has been done away with.
The last such security review undertaken and notified on March 27 listed two districts under the LWE-affected category — Bijapur in Chhattisgarh and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand.
In its latest communication, the MHA also informed Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal that 37 districts have been categorised as “Legacy and Thrust districts” while one district has been designated as a “District of Concern”. (PTI)
