Centre Issues New Categories For 'Left Wing Extremism'-Hit Districts, Declares 12 Of 38 'Most Affected'

The Home Ministry issued a fresh categorisation of the districts affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) across 10 states

The Home Ministry on Thursday issued a fresh categorisation of the districts affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) across 10 states after their number came down by almost half in the past nine years, news agency PTI reported, citing officials. The officials shared the list with the director generals of police concerned and stated that a total of 38 districts across these 10 states are categorised as LWE-affected with effect from April 1, 2024, compared to 75 in 2015.

The categorisation of the LWE-affected districts in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, and West Bengal provides the basis for the deployment of resources under the National Policy and Action Plan, approved in 2015, to combat LWE holistically.

The central government and the state governments have been working closely to deal with this issue. According to the officials, several interventions are being made, both security and development-related, as a result of which there has been a marked improvement in the LWE scenario, PTI reported.

The chart was topped by Chhattisgarh, with LWE-affected 15 districts. It was followed by Odisha (seven districts), Jharkhand (five), Madhya Pradesh (three), Kerala, Maharashtra, and Telangana (two each), and West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh (one each), the officials said.

Of these, 12 districts—seven in Chhattisgarh, two in Odisha, and one each in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra—are categorised as "most affected districts,"  and nine—four in Jharkhand, two in Odisha, and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana—are categorised as "districts of concern,"  the officials said, as quoted by PTI.

The officials also stated that the'most affected district' section was created in 2015 with 35 districts to ensure focused deployment of resources. They further stated that following a review in 2018, the number of such districts was brought down to 30 and thereafter to 25 in 2021.

The 'districts of concern' group was added to address the resource gap where the LWE influence is waning.

According to officials, eight districts were kept in the list for two years, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, and all of these districts have been excluded from the list, while nine new districts have been included, PTI reported. They said that in addition, eight districts in Bihar, six in Jharkhand, three in Odisha, and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana are categorised as "legacy and thrust" districts.

The officials said these districts have a legacy of supporting the LWE, and therefore, support to states is required for consolidating the position and continued support in respect of security and development measures for some more time.

The 'thrust districts' are the districts that are prospective sites of LWE expansion, and therefore, continued support would be required for continued capacity building. The officials stated that the evolving LWE situation requires a periodic review of the districts to ensure that the focus of anti-LWE efforts remains aligned to the ground realities.