NEW DELHI: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah On Monday chaired a review meeting of Left-Wing Extremism in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, and the Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Senior officials from central ministries, CAPFs and LWE-affected states were also present.
Shah said that the Centre and state governments are committed to decisively dealing with Naxalism before March 2026, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. On the occasion, he also asserted that the Naxalism fight will also prove crucial in taking the PM’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ to blossom, as it will ensure that the country’s 80 million tribal citizens participate in nation’s progress.
From education to health and infrastructure, from the grassroots level of remote tribal areas, Shah identified Naxalism as the principal difficulty. He underlined the fact that the need was to uproot Naxalism to bring progress to every nook and cranny of the country, mainly in tribal areas.
He said that major achievements included the fight against Naxalism for the period of 2019-2024. He reported that both violent incidents as well as casualties have seen a sharp decline. The minister said that 14 top Naxal leaders have been neutralised and welfare schemes have reached inaccessible areas. He further added that the death toll from Naxal violence remained below 100 in 2022 for the first time in 30 years.
Shah hailed the Chhattisgarh government for its efforts, claiming 85 percent of Naxal cadres in the state had been killed. He said areas like Budha Pahad and Chakrabandha have come out of the clutches of Naxals.
According to him, the successes of the government over the last four years have been largely multi-pronged since 2019. More than 194 new CAPF camps were established and 45 police stations were deployed to bridge security gaps. Reduction in casualties was achieved through deployments of helicopters, while multiple increases in support from two helicopters to 12 were given to the troops.
Shah accepted that in the past years, developments on the infrastructural front have been immense. For instance, between 2004 and 2014 only 2,900 km of roads were constructed, but between 2014 and 2024, 14,400 km of roads were constructed.