New Delhi/IBNS: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that taking a giant stride towards building a Naxal-free Bharat, our nation achieved a new milestone by significantly reducing the number of districts most affected by Left-Wing Extremism to just 6 from 12.

In a post on X platform, Shah said that the Modi government is building a Sashakt, Surakshit and Samriddh Bharat with a ruthless approach to Naxalism and relentless efforts for all-pervasive development. Bharat is determined to uproot Naxalism for good by 31st March 2026.

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 LWE-affected Districts has also been reduced from 17 to 6.

Out of total naxalism-affected districts, number of most affected districts has been reduced from 12 to 6, which include 4 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 6 districts are: Andhra Pradesh (Alluri Sitarama Raju), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat), Odisha (Kalahandi, Kandhamal, and Malkangiri), and Telangana (Bhadradri-Kothagudem).

Due to persistent action against Naxalism, number of Other LWE-affected Districts has also decreased from 17 to 6. These include districts from Chhattisgarh (Dantewada, Gariaband, and Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki), Jharkhand (Latehar), Odisha (Nuapada), and Telangana (Mulugu).

The most affected Districts and Districts of Concern are given financial assistance of Rs. 30 crore and Rs. 10 crore respectively by the Government of India 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 the 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.