Latehar and West Singhbhum identified as LWE-affected Jharkhand districts: MoS Home Nityanand Rai tells Rajya Sabha

New Delhi [India], August 20 (ANI): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has identified two districts in Jharkhand - Latehar and West Singhbhum as Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected, according to a written answer in the Rajya Sabha today by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
Over the past five years, the Centre has allocated Rs 936.50 crore to Jharkhand under three major schemes aimed at tackling LWE challenges and improving infrastructure and development in the affected regions. The schemes include the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme, Special Central Assistance (SCA) Scheme, and Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS).
The government highlighted several initiatives undertaken in Jharkhand's LWE-affected districts with special focus on expansion of road network, telecom connectivity, financial inclusion, education, and skill development.
For road connectivity, 2,927 km of roads have been constructed. For Telecom expansion: 1,589 mobile towers have been commissioned. For Financial inclusion: 1,240 post offices, 349 bank branches, and 352 ATMs opened across most LWE-hit areas. For Skill development: 16 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 20 Skill Development Centres have been made functional, and for quality Education in tribal blocks, 47 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) have been made functional.
To ensure effective utilisation of funds and timely progress, the Centre has put in place monitoring mechanisms through different central-level committees. These include the SRE Standing Committee for the SRE scheme, the Project Clearance Committee for the SIS, and the Central Level Committee for the SCA Scheme.
Meanwhile, Nityanand Rai on August 12 informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply about decline in violence perpetrated by "left wing extremists," saying that violence incidents and resultant deaths of civilians and security forces, have come down from high of 2010 by 81 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively, in 2024.
Responding to queries raised by Congress MP Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale regarding the government's efforts to curb the Naxal activity and providing safety in Maoist-affected areas, Rai highlighted the decline in the left-wing extremism (LWE) related violence in Tribal areas, given the resolute implementation of the National Policy and Action Plan 2015.
"The resolute implementation of the National Policy and Action Plan 2015 has resulted in a consistent decline in violence and contraction of geographical spread. LWE, which has been a serious challenge to the internal security of the nation, has been significantly curbed in recent times and has been constricted to only a few pockets. There has also been a sharp decline in LWE-affected districts from 126 in 2013 to 18 districts in April 2025," MoS Home Rai said.
He said that it has been the "Tribal" who have borne the brunt of the violence while claiming that they are killed and tortured after being branded as "police informers".
"The poor and marginalised sections of the society, especially the tribals, have borne the brunt of this violence, as the majority of civilians killed by Left Wing Extremists are tribals, often branded as 'Police Informers' before being brutally tortured and killed," the MoS Home said.
Pointing out the irony of the Naxalbari movement, Rai claimed that Tribals have been the "biggest victims" of the people's war declared by the Maoists against the Indian state. He said that the areas affected by LWE have been "marred by dual challenges of a vicious circle of backwardness and the security concerns arising out of LWE influence."
"Ironically, it is the same tribals and the economically underprivileged sections, whose cause the Maoists claim to espouse, have been the biggest victims of the so-called 'protected peoples war' of the Left Wing Extremists against the Indian State. Poverty, low levels of literacy, poor health standards, lack of infrastructure and connectivity are all manifestations of LWE violence," the MoS Home said in a written reply. (ANI)