Left Wing Extremism on decline in Telugu states

Hyderabad: An increased number of terrorist activities took place in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016-17, according to the annual report by the Union home ministry. The two Telugu states featured on the list of states facing left wing extremism, (LWE) with Telangana state recording two deaths and AP seven.

Left wing extremism continues to be an area of concern for the internal security of the country, but a declining trend has been noted, the report said. The report states, “The last four years have seen an unprecedented improvement in the LWE scenario across the country. An overall 20 per cent  reduction in violent incidents from 1,136 to 908 and 33.8 per cent reduction from 397 to 263 in the LWE related deaths was noted in 2017.” It said 27 incidents occurred in AP and 17 in Telangana state.

Last year witnessed the lowest number of insurgency incidents in the northeastern states since 1997. Similarly, casualties in the security forces in the region declined from 17 to 12 and civilian casualties from 48 to 37.

With a drastic rise in infiltration attempts across the LoC, casualties and ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the Centre had to spend nearly Rs 1,185 crore in 2016-17 towards security related expenditure, which is the maximum for any year so far. The expenditure on security forces is directly proportional to the increase in terror activities.

In Jammu and Kashmir, an alarming increase of 6.21 per cent and 166.66 per cent was noted in the number of terrorist incidents and fatalities of civilians, respectively, in 2017 over 2016. However, there was a 2.44 per cent decrease in the casualties of security forces. During 2017, 42 per cent more terrorists were neutralised.

The report states, “The threat from terrorist/militant groups makes it imperative to provide adequate security to holders of high public offices and other dignitaries. The security arrangements are assessed by a high level committee to effectively tackle the evil designs of terrorists and militants and thereby ensure maintenance of public order and peace in the country."

The ministry is planning on increasing inter-state coordination to ensure fewer terror attacks. Periodic inter-state meetings will be encouraged. Another important aspect mentioned in the report is the liberalisation of weapons manufacturing to boost the “Make in India” initiative of the Centre and also to promote employment generation in the field of manufacturing of arms and ammunition.

A notification in this regard was issued on October 27, 2017, stating that the liberalisation of arms rules will encourage investment in the manufacturing of arms and ammunition and weapon systems as part of the “Make in India” programme. The licence fee has been reduced significantly from Rs 500 per fire-arm, which added up to very large sum, to between Rs 5,000 and a maximum of Rs 50,000.

The special infrastructure scheme which was implemented till 2014-15 has been revived for a period of three years till 2019-20, for strengthening the intelligence mechanism and special forces of the states and for fortification of police stations. The total outlay of the scheme is Rs 1,048 crore.

The government has also encouraged policies to mainstream the youth, which includes providing employment opportunities to wean them away from militancy.