Deaths in India due to Left Wing Extremism reduced by 85% in recent years

Tags: National National News

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai said on 14 November that deaths in the country due to Left Wing Extremism (LWE) have reduced by 85 percent in recent years.

Important facts

• Incidents of LWE violence have reduced by 77 percent from a high of 2213 in 2010 to 509 in 2021.

• Similarly, resultant deaths of both Civilians and Security Forces also have reduced by 85 percent from a high of 1005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021.

• With the decline in the geographical spread of Left Wing Extremism, the number of districts with security related expenditure has come down from 126 in April 2018 to 90 and to 70 in July 2021.

• Left-wing extremists, popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalites in India, has been a major threat to India since the 1960s. 

Initiative taken by the Government

• A multi-pronged strategy has been implemented under the National Policy and Action Plan since 2015 to address Left Wing Extremism.

• The government has approved projects worth Rs 971 crore under the Special Infrastructure Scheme, which includes strengthening of special forces and special intelligence branches.

• Under the scheme, 2566 crore rupees have been released to States since 2014-15. 

• A total of 503 Fortified Police Stations have been constructed till date and 147 approved in vulnerable LWE affected areas.

• An amount of over Rs 3000 crore has been released to the most Left Wing Extremism affected districts under the 'Special Central Assistance Scheme' to fill critical gaps in public infrastructure and services.

• A total of 11600 km roads have been constructed and 2343 mobile towers were installed in the affected districts. 

• 1258 bank branches and 4903 post offices were established in the last seven years for inclusive development in LWE affected districts.