The Ministry of Home Affairs in a press release in the parliament stated that as per Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, subjects of Police and Public Order are with the State Governments.
However, to address Left Wing Extremism (LWE) menace holistically, Government of India (GoI) approved ‘National Policy and Action Plan to address LWE’ in 2015 envisaging a multi-pronged strategy involving security related measures, development interventions, ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities etc. Steadfast implementation of this policy has resulted in consistent decline in LWE related violence and it’s geographical spread.
The primary responsibility of implementation of the scheme rests with the States/UTs. During the period from 2004 to 2014 there were 17,679 LWE related incidents and 6,984 deaths.
During the period from 2014 to 2023 (till 15 June 23) there have been 7,649 LWE related incidents and 2,020 deaths. Year-wise details are annexed.
A comparison of various statistics of LWE violence over last nine years (May 2014 to April 2023) with preceding nine years (May 2005 to April 2014) indicates a significant improvement in the LWE scenario in the country. The incidents of LWE related violence reduced by 52% from 14,862 to 7130 and the total number of deaths reduced by 69% from 6035 to 1868 in the said period.
The figures are a reflection of the efficacy of operations being conducted by the Security Forces and the capacity building measures undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the same time, the developmental outreach by Government of India has seen an increasingly large number of LWE cadres shunning the path of violence and returning to the mainstream.