Districts infested with left wing extremism down to just 6: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said districts infested with "left wing extremism" in the country had reduced to just six.

"Taking a giant stride towards building a Naxal-free Bharat, today our nation achieved a new milestone by significantly reducing the number of districts most affected by left-wing extremism to just 6 from 12," the Home Minister wrote on X.

He said that the Modi government was building a “Sashakt, Surakshit and Samriddh Bharat” with a ruthless approach towards Naxalism and relentless efforts for all-pervasive development.

"Bharat is determined to uproot Naxalism for good by March 31, 2026," Shah said.

The Home Minister's remarks come just a couple of days after security agencies neutralised 17 Naxalites in an operation in Sukma district in Chattisgarh.

Notably, the total number of districts affected by Naxalism in the country was 38. Among these, the number of most affected districts has reduced to 6 from 12, number of District of Concern has also come down to 6 from 9 and number of other left wing extremism-affected districts has also been reduced from 17 to 6.

Out of the total naxalism-affected districts, the number of most affected districts has been reduced from 12 to 6, which include four districts from Chhattisgarh (Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur and Sukma), 1 from Jharkhand (West Singhbhum) and 1 from Maharashtra (Gadchiroli).

Similarly, out of the total 38 affected districts, the number of "Districts of Concern", where additional resources need to be intensively provided beyond the severely affected districts, has reduced from 9 to 6. These six districts are: Alluri Sitarama Raju (Andhra Pradesh), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh), Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Malkangiri (Odisha), and Bhadradri-Kothagudem (Telangana).

According to the officials, the most affected districts and districts of concern are given financial assistance of Rs 30 crore and Rs 10 crore, respectively, by the Centre under a special scheme, Special Central Assistance (SCA), to fill the gaps in public infrastructure. Apart from this, special projects are also provided for these districts as per need.

"The rapid improvement in the LWE scenario in the last one year is primarily due to the establishment of new security camps in the insurgency-affected core areas and development-oriented works such as expansion of roads, transport facilities, water, electricity and other welfare schemes of the government reaching the villagers," the official said.