New Delhi [India], December 9 : Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the number of Naxal-affected districts has been reduced from 126 to 90 in April-2018, 70 in July-2021, 38 in April-2024, 18 in April-2025 and only 11 in October-2025 with only three districts nowcategorizedd as Most LWE Affected.
MoS Home Rai, in a written reply to BJP MP Janardan Singh Sigriwal's question, informed the Lower House that 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 nation's internal security, has been significantly curbed in recent times and confined to only a few pockets.
The number of Naxal-affected districts reduced from 126 to 90 in April 2018, 70 in July 2021, 38 in April 2024, 18 in April 2025, and only 11 in October 2025, with only three districts now categorised as Most LWE Affected. However, to restrict CPI (Maoist) from bouncing back in the areas recently taken away from LWE influence, 27 districts have been kept as "Legacy & Thrust Districts" under the scope of the Security Related Expenditure Scheme.
MoS Home Nityanand Rai further informed the Lok Sabha that LWE-related violence incidents have decreased by 89% from a high of 1936 in 2010 to 218 in 2025. Resultant deaths of Civilians & Security Forces have also come down from a high of 1005 in the year 2010 by 91% to 93% in the year 2025. In 2025 (till December 01), security forces have neutralised 335 Naxals, arrested 942 and facilitated 2167 surrenders.
"On the security front, the GoI assists the LWE-affected State Government by providing Central Armed Police Forces battalions and sanctioning of India Reserve Battalions, helicopter support, strengthening of camp infrastructure, training, funds for modernisation of State police forces, equipment & arms, sharing of intelligence, construction of Fortified Police Stations, etc. For capacity building of states since 2014-15, Rs. 3523.48 crore have been released to LWE-affected states on operational expenditure and training needs of Security Forces, rehabilitation of surrendered LWE cadre, ex-gratia to families of civilians killed in LWE violence/martyred security force personnel, etc. under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. Works of Rs. 1757 crore have been sanctioned to LWE-affected states for strengthening of the State's Special Forces, State Intelligence Branches (SIBs), District Police and construction of Fortified Police Stations (FPS) under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS)," Rai added.
Nityanand Rai said that there has been a special focus on the financial choking of LWEs and the unearthing of the nexus between CPI (Maoists) and its financial supporters. For effective action towards choking of funds and other resources to LWE, coordinated actions are being taken by the State Police in cooperation with Central agencies by various means. The GoI's focus on security infrastructure has been pivotal. In the last decade, 656 fortified police stations have been built.
"In the last six years, 377 new security camps have been established in core LWE-affected areas", he added. MoS Home further said that on the development front, apart from the flagship schemes of the Government of India (GoI), several LWE-affected areas-specific initiatives have been taken with special thrust on expansion of road network, improving telecommunication connectivity, education, skill development and financial inclusion. The efforts undertaken are periodically monitored, evaluated and modified to optimise the results.
Nityanand Rai said in the House that for expansion of the road network, 14,978 km have been constructed under 02 LWE-specific schemes, namely Road Requirement Plan (RRP) and Road Connectivity Project for LWE Affected Areas (RCPLWEA). For improving telecom connectivity in LWE-affected areas,s 9,050 towers have been commissioned. For Skill Development, 46 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) and 49 Skill Development Centres (SDC) have been opened.
For quality education in tribal areas, 179 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) have been made functional. For financial inclusion, the Department of Posts has opened 6,025 Post Offices with banking services in LWE-affected districts. 1804 Bank Branches and 1321 ATMs have been opened in Most LWE-affected districts. For further impetus to development, funds are provided for filling critical gaps in public infrastructure in Most LWE-affected Districts under the Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme. Till now, Rs. 3,848.49 crore have been released since the inception of the scheme in 2017.