Home Minister Amit Shah’s forceful assertion in Parliament last week that Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) will be eradicated from the country by March 2026 has caught many by surprise, while others are in awe.
Why surprise? Naxalism, starkly opposed to the country’s democratic framework and the biggest unequaliser in the Indian context, has been a dreaded menace for decades.Based on building a classless society through the barrel of a gun,the very idea of Naxalism or Left-Wing Extremism is flawed. Wild. However, the damage it has caused to the Nation and its democratic fabric is immeasurable.
For decades together,Naxalism has deprived vast swathes (Red Corridor) of land across West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Odisha, inhabited by eight crore people, mostly tribal, of the goodness of development and equal opportunity for progress. Thousands of lives were lost. Often upturning internal security measures and development initiatives, LWE runs with the nefarious intention of perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation by inhibiting businesses from setting up and performing and, ultimately, delaying the mainstreaming of the people in the country’s Red Corridor.
What has it done to the country and its hapless tribal populations? Between 2004 and 2014, 1,858 security personnel died in 16,463 violent incidents, which also caused 4,766 civilian deaths. There were 126 Naxalism-affected districts in the country by 2014 and, in contrast, just 66 fortified police stations. Loss of moveable and immovable properties will also run in a few thousand crores.
Quite naturally, when someone of the stature of Home minister speaks about eliminating the dreaded menace, and that too on the floor of the Parliament, many are surprised. But, they might be in awe knowing today’s ground reality. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance, the Home Department has achieved the unthinkable.
Tackling a menace of this magnitude is never easy. Home Minister Amit Shah’s meticulous planning and multifaceted strategy to quell the discontent holistically by dispersing the seeds of development to turn problems into prospects and responding with an iron fist where an Olive Branch fails to melt the ice have yielded astounding results. How did this happen?
Immediately after taking over, the government was hell-bent on eradicating naxalism. To holistically address the LWE menace, the government approved the ‘National Policy and Action Plan to address LWE’ in 2015, envisaging a multi-pronged strategy involving security-related measures, development interventions, ensuring the rights and entitlements of local communities, etc.
The resolute implementation of the policy has resulted in a consistent decline in violence and constriction of geographical spread. However, during the Modi government’s tenure from 2014 to 2024, the number of violent incidents decreased by 53 per cent, dropping to 7,744. Similarly, the number of security forces’ causalities decreased by 73 per cent, from 1851 to 509, and the number of civilian causalities decreased by 70 per cent, dropping from 4766 to 1,495.
The number of Naxal-affected districts has now come down to 12, while the number of fortified districts has increased to 612. In the past 5 years, a total of 302 new security camps and 68 night landing
helipads have been established. These were never in existence before the
Modi regime.
HM’s professional, layered, and strategic approach to LWEinvolved accelerated plugging of security vacuums and eliminating information-dark areas that served as major headwinds in the battle against insurgency. In the last 10 years, the LWE-affected regions’ mobile connectivity towers have increased from 0 to 6,000. This single move had a game-changing impact at the grassroots level by instilling a sense of security among the people and bridging the gap between them and the government for the
first time.
There was a fierce offensive against Left Wing Extremism, dealing crushing blows to terror outfits every time. If the number of eliminations, arrests, and surrenders are any marker of the triumph of the security forces in this battle against the menace, then Indian security forces deserve a pat on the back.
Over the last ten years, security spending in LWE-affected areas nearly tripled to over `3,000 crore. Over the past four years, an additional `1,285 crore has been released to LWE-affected states under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, reinforcing their ability to combat insurgency.
Social infrastructure—roads, schools, and healthcare facilities—has been built in abundance. Banking services have been made accessible to all.
On the other hand, through NIA and ED, the government choked the funding channels of the LWE groups. He strengthened the hands of the states by assisting them with the capacity building of LWE-affected areas through various government schemes to ensure optimal implementation of different welfare schemes. During this period, the number of Eklavya Model Schools in these areas increased from 38 to 216, and the road network increased from 2900 km to 14,400 km.
March 2026 is precisely one year away. It would not be surprising if the Mission was achieved before then.
