Centre firm on completely eliminating LWE menace: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister to review security situation of naxal-affected States with the Chief Ministers of eight States on Monday

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will review on Monday the security situation of the naxal-affected States with the Chief Ministers of eight States hit by the menace.

The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will attend the meeting to be held here, according to an official statement.

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Due to the strategy of the Narendra Modi government, the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has come down by 72 per cent while there is 86 per cent decline in deaths in 2023 as compared to year 2010. The naxals are fighting its last battle now, it said.

Five Union Ministers of the Ministries closely involved with providing development support to the LWE-affected States will also attend the meeting.

The deputy national security adviser and senior officers from the Centre, States and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) will also participate in the deliberations.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of the Home Minister, the Central government is committed to completely root out the menace of the LWE by March, 2026, the statement said.

The Central government is providing all possible assistance to the LWE-affected State governments in fighting the menace of Naxalism. Shah had last chaired a review meeting with the Chief Ministers of the LWE-affected States on October 6, 2023.

During that meeting, the Home Minister had given comprehensive directions with regard to elimination of LWE. The year 2024, so far, has witnessed unprecedented success by the security forces in elimination of armed LWE cadres, the statement said.

So far, 202 LWE cadres have been eliminated this year and 723 LWE cadres have surrendered while 812 have been arrested. The number of LWE-affected districts have come down to just 38 in 2024, it said.

The Central government has taken several steps, including impetus on road and mobile connectivity, to take developmental schemes to the remotest areas of the affected states, according to the statement.

A total of 14,400 km roads have been constructed and nearly 6,000 mobile towers have been installed in the LWE-affected areas so far, the statement said.