Left Wing Extremism on wane in AP, roads laid for 1087 km in LWE areas, says Jagan

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has affirmed that the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is on the wane in AP and Maoist activities are confined to only a few pockets of the agency areas.

In an address at the review meeting on LWE, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday, the Chief Minister pointed out that AP has been battling LWE for over four decades. “A multi-pronged approach, comprising security measures, development initiatives, safeguarding the rights and entitlements of local communities under the National Policy and an Action Plan, has yielded positive results.

He said the government has been able to ensure that the Maoist activities are limited to a few pockets in Alluri Sitarama Raju and Parvathipuram Manyam districts. Their original spread was in five districts. The LWE cadre strength has also come down to 50 in 2023 from 150 in 2019, the CM said.

While sharing intelligence with neighbouring Odisha, Telangana and Chhattisgarh on tackling the LWE, Jagan Mohan Reddy said the AP has effectively addressed the issues of poverty, illiteracy, inadequate healthcare and unemployment among tribals. These were the root cause of LWE.

Tribals have been counselled to cultivate commercial crops, he said.

The Chief Minister said, “These measures were supplemented with strong efforts like distribution of RoFR pattas for bestowing ownership of 3.23 lakh acres of forest lands to 1.54 lakh tribal farmers and completing the laying of roads for a length of 1,087 km in LWE areas under the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA) scheme.

Out of the 28 Ekalavya schools sanctioned by the Union tribal affairs ministry for AP, 24 have been established in tribal areas, ensuring access to quality education for tribal children. The government has also initiated efforts to establish 944 communication towers in the LWE-affected areas to ensure a robust communication network in tribal areas, he said.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “The government is also running 1,953 primary schools, 81 residential schools, 378 Ashram Schools and 179 pre and post-matric hostels to help students in tribal areas besides extending the benefits of Amma Vodi etc to them through the dedicated volunteer system and village secretariats.”

Family doctors, with the support of village health clinics, are also extending preventive healthcare to tribals, he said, stressing the need to establish more bank branches in tribal areas.

The Chief Minister said, “In order to prevent further spread of LWE, continuous and collaborative efforts are needed from both the Centre and the states. While maintaining law and order is the states’ responsibility, it is crucial for the Centre to provide unflinching financial and strategic support to LWE-affected states, particularly in areas of capacity-building, modernisation of the police forces and developmental initiatives,” he added.