Union Home Minister Amit Shah will review the security situation in Naxal affected areas with Chief Ministers of 10 States on Sunday. Those who have been invited for the day-long physical meeting are the chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
Majority of the Chief Ministers are attending the review meeting while some States are represented by their Home Ministers, said MHA officials.
The Union Home Minister will review with the CMs the security situation and ongoing operations against the Maoists in the 10 Naxal-hit States.
Another agenda of the meeting is a review of the development works like construction of roads, bridges, schools and health centres being carried out in the Naxal-affected areas.
The top officials from Union Transport and Highways Ministry and Telecom Ministry will also appraise on the development works in these areas. According to the Union Home Ministry data, Maoist violence has reduced considerably in the country and the menace is prevalent now in just about 45 districts.
However, a total of 90 districts in the country are considered Maoist-affected and are covered under the Security Related Expenditure Scheme of the ministry. Naxal violence, also called Left Wing Extremism (LWE), was reported in 61 districts in 2019 and only about 45 districts in 2020.
About 380 security personnel, 1,000 civilians and 900 Naxals have been killed in different instances of violence in LWE-affected areas from 2015 till 2020.
A total of about 4,200 Naxals have also surrendered during the same period, according to the data.