Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Left Wing Extremism (LWE) will be totally eliminated from the country in two years.
He chaired a meeting to review the security situation in LWE-affected states, Shah also said that last year witnessed the lowest number of incidents of violence and deaths in Naxal-hit areas in the last four decades.
“Naxalism is a curse to humanity and we are resolved to uproot it in all its forms. Left Wing Extremism will be totally eliminated from the country in two years,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
Officials said that the violent incidents in Naxal-affected states have come down by 77 per cent in 2022 in comparison to the high of 2010.
The number deaths of security forces and civilians in LWE violence has also reduced by 90 per cent in 2022 as compared to the high of 2010, they said.
According to the data prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs, there were 17,679 LWE-related incidents and 6,984 deaths between 2004 and 2014.
In contrast, there have been 7,649 LWE-related incidents and 2,020 deaths from 2014 to 2023 (till 15 June 23), the data showed.
The review meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also attended the meeting. State ministers of Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were present in the meeting.