Raipur: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday dubbed Naxalism a threat and pledged to free the country of the Naxal menace by March 2026. Though Mr Shah asserted a strong and ruthless strategy is required for the final assault against the menace, he also made it clear that the Army will not be deployed in the fight against left-wing extremism.
Addressing a press conference after chairing the interstate coordination meeting involving seven left-wing extremism-affected states in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Mr Shah said that the battle against Naxalism has now reached a decisive stage.
“We have decided to pursue a ruthless policy to eradicate left-wing extremism in the country. Accordingly, we have set priorities -- surrender, arrest, neutralisation (in this order), as far as tackling the issue is concerned,” he said.
“Time has come to put the last nail in the coffin of left-wing extremism. Maoists have now been left with two options -- either surrender or get neutralised,” Mr Shah added.
Describing Chhattisgarh as the worst hit among the left-wing extremism-affected states in the country, the Union home minister said that it has been decided to strengthen the ecosystem in six neighbouring states of Chhattisgarh to address the issue.
The interstate coordination meeting has decided to strengthen the system of sharing intelligence on Maoist movements and activities among the Naxalism-affected states. The Central agencies will coordinate in the field, he said.
The Union home minister said that a joint task force constituted to keep a vigil on the strategic junctions, facilitating movement of Naxals, has started producing good results. He said that Naxalism has posed the biggest challenge to democracy.
As many as 17,000 people, including security personnel, civilians and people involved in Naxal violence, have been killed in the last four decades in the country.
Mr Shah said that the fight against Naxals has intensified since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.
As many as 14 top Naxal leaders were neutralised in 2024, dealing a severe blow to Naxalism in the country. Describing how the anti-Naxal policy of the Centre has yielded rich dividends, Mr Shah said that Naxal influence is now confined to 42 districts in the country as against 107 districts in 2010. The number of incidents related to Naxal violence has come down to 7,744 now from 16,463 in 2004.
The number of slain security personnel in Maoist violence has declined by 73 per cent and civilian deaths by 63 per cent in the last four decades.
As many as 277 new security camps have been opened in the Maoist strongholds in the last five years.
“The financial ecosystem of the left-wing extremists in the country had been hit hard by the government agencies and even the Enforcement Directorate has joined in the exercise,” Mr Shah said.
The Union home minister said that the Centre is pursuing the twin strategy of establishment of rule of law and development of backward areas in the Naxal-affected areas to combat left-wing extremism.
Mr Shah said that the Centre has allocated `21,400 crores to develop telecommunication in the Naxalism-hit areas and `21,000 crores for laying 17,500 km of roads in these areas.
The Union minister categorically ruled out deployment of the Army to combat left-wing extremism in the country.
Chief secretaries and DGPs of Naxal-affected states of Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand took part in the meeting. Besides, chiefs of various Central paramilitary forces also attended the meeting.
