A total of 16 districts of Chhattisgarh remain insurgency-infested out of the 106 districts in 10 States as identified by the Central Government as ‘left Wing Extremism’ (lWE) affected districts in the country, according to the latest Central Government data.
The districts are – Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Jashpur, Kanker, Koriya (Baikunthpur ), Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Surguja, Dhamtari, Mahasamund ,Gariaband, Balod, Sukma, Kondagaon and Balrampur.
Chhattisgarh is also among the seven worst left Wing Extremism (lWE) states which been allocated Rs228.56 crore as Additional Central Assistance (ACA) by Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had approved the State-wise allocation of Additional Central Assistance of Rs1000 crores to 35 worst lWE affected districts in seven states recently.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has allocated fund Rs28.57 crores per district. Thus, Jharkhand is allocated Rs457.12 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs 228.56 crore, Bihar Rs171.42 crore, Odisha Rs57.14 crore and Rs28.57 crore each to the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In an attempt to boost-up developmental works in insurgency-hit districts, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to fix three percent amount of cost of construction works funded by the Centre as ‘protection component’.
Chhattisgarh stands fourth in the country in terms of the number of districts affected by left Wing Extremism (lWE).
A total of 106 districts in the States are considered as left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected. Of these, Bihar has maximum 22 districts, followed by Jharkhand(21), Odisha(19), Chhattisgarh(16), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,- both 8 each, West Bengal and Maharashtra,- both 4 each, Uttar Pradesh,- 3 and Madhya Pradesh, one.
Apart from the above, it is worth mentioning that the numbers of incidents of lWE violence and resultant deaths have also significantly declined during the last four years from 2011 to 2014, officials stated.
Overall, the Centre had approved a Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of a total of 34 Districts in 8 States covering 5477 km length (1126 km NHs & 4351 kms State Roads.
In Chhattisgarh, the fund had been approved for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas measuring 2019 kms.
As per details of Physical Progress achieved as on March 1, 2015 under RRP the length of road completed between 2010-11 to 2014-15 in the insurgency infested areas in Chhattisgarh upto February 28, 2015 is 868 kms.
As per the State-wise details of fund allocated and expenditure incurred under lWE scheme, Chhattisgarh an expenditure of Rs 190 crore was made from 2010-11 to 2014-15 upto February 28, 2015.
The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved raising of four 'India Reserve Battalions' (IR Bns) for Chhattisgarh State to be deployed in left Wing Extremism (lWE) pockets of the State. The Union Cabinet announced to raise a total of 17 India Reserve Battalions (IR Bns) for Jammu & Kashmir and left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected States, officials stated.
It includes five IR Bns in the State of J&K, three IR Bns in Jharkhand, three IR Bns in Odisha and two IR Bns in Maharashtra including four for Chhattisgarh.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) units recovered explosives weighing a total of 1141.5 kgs during the past five years between 2010 to 2015 ( as on December 16, 2015) in left Wing Extremism (lWE) districts of Chhattisgarh.
During the aforesaid period CRPF troopers also unearthed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) weighing a total of 1133.25 kgs in State’s red zones, officials stated.