Naxal violence reduced by 77% from all-time high in 2009, says MoS Home
New Delhi, February 9: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday informed that incidents of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has dropped by 77 percent from an all-time high of 2258 in 2009 to 509 in 2021.
"The steadfast implementation of the National Policy & Action Plan to address Left Wing Extremism (LWE) -2015' has resulted in a consistent decline in violence. The incidents of LWE violence have been reduced by 77 percent from an all-time high of 2258 in 2009 to 509 in 2021," said Rai.
In response to a query from a BJP Rajya Sabha MP, Rai informed the Upper House that the number of individuals killed, including civilians and security forces, had decreased by 85%, from 1005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021.
"The geographical spread of the violence has also been reduced and only 46 districts reported LWE related violence in 2021 as compared to 96 districts in 2010," he informed.
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Rai further told Rajya Sabha that the decrease in the geographical spread is reflected in a decrease in the number of districts covered by the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme. In April 2018, the number of SRE districts was lowered to 90, and in July 2021, it was further cut to 70.
Similarly, the number of districts contributing nearly 90% of the LWE violence, referred to as "most LWE affected districts," decreased from 35 in 2018 to 30 in 2021.
"As per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, subjects of 'Police and Public Order' are with the State Governments. However, to address the LWE menace holistically, a National Policy and Action Plan have been implemented since 2015. The Policy envisages a multi-pronged strategy involving security-related measures, development interventions, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities, etc," he continued.
On the security front, Rai stated that the Indian government assists LWE-affected state governments by providing battalions of the Central Armed Police Force, helicopters, training, funds for state police force modernization, arms and equipment, intelligence sharing, and the construction of fortified police stations, among other things.
"Central Government also provides funds for capacity building of the LWE affected States under various schemes, like Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme and Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) to fight the LWE menace effectively," the MoS Home said.
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-PTC News
