Comprhensive plan facilitates reduction of LWE Violence as per the Ministry of Home Affairs.
To address the LWE problem holistically, a “National Policy and Action Plan to address LWE” was approved in 2015, this was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha
It envisages a multi-prolonged strategy involving security related measures, development interventions, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities etc. While on security front, the Government of India (GoI) assists the LWE affected States for capacity building by providing Central Armed Police battalions, training & funds for modernization of State police forces, equipment & arms, sharing of intelligence, construction of Fortified Police Stations etc; Under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme, assistance is provided for recurring expenditure relating to operational and training needs of security forces, expenditure incurred by the states for the rehabilitation of the surrendered LWE cadres, community policing, village defense committees and publicity material etc. During 2014-15 to 2024-25, Rs. 3260.37 crore has been released under this Scheme.
Under Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), funds are provided for strengthening of State Intelligence Branches (SIBs), Special Forces, District Polices and Fortified Police Stations (FPSs). Under the SIS, Rs. 1741 crore have been sanctioned. 221 Fortified Police Stations have been constructed under the Scheme with a total of 621 FPS have been constructed. Further, Rs. 1120.32 crore has been given to Central Agencies during the period 2014-15 to 2024-25 for helicopters and addressing critical infrastructure in security camps in LWE affected areas, under Assistance to Central Agencies for LWE Management (ACALWEM) Scheme. On development side, apart from flagship schemes, GoI has taken several specific initiatives in LWE affected States, with special thrust on expansion of road network, improving telecommunication connectivity, skilling and financial inclusion. For expansion of road connectivity, 14,607 Km roads have been constructed. For improving telecom connectivity in LWE affected areas, 7,768 towers have been commissioned.
With regard to Skill Development, 46 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 49 Skill Development Centres (SDCs) have been made functional. For quality education in tribal areas 178 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) have been made functional. For Financial Inclusion, department of Posts has opened 5731 Post Offices with banking services in LWE affected districts. 1007 Bank Branches & 937 ATMs have been opened and 37,850 Banking Correspondences (BCs) have been made operational in Most LWE affected districts. For further impetus to development, Under Special Central Assistance (SCA), funds are provided for filling critical gaps in Public infrastructure. Till now, Rs 3563 Crore have been released since the inception of Scheme in 2017.
As a result of the strict implementation of the policy, incidents of LWE violence which had reached its highest level i.e. 1936 in 2010 have reduced to 374 in 2024 i.e. a reduction of 81 per cent. The total number of deaths (civilian + security forces) has also reduced by 85 per cent during this period i.e. from 1005 deaths in 2010 to 150 in 2024. During the last 10 years, incidents of LWE violence which were 1091 in 2014 have reduced to 374 in 2024 i.e. a reduction of 65.7 per cent. The total number of deaths (civilian + security force) has also reduced by 52 per cent during this period i.e. from 310 deaths in 2014 to 150 in 2024. There has also been a sharp decline in the number of districts affected by LWE. The LWE affected districts have been reduced from 126 to 90 districts by April 2018, further to 70 by July 2021 and then to 38 by April 2024.
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