Centre cuts Naxal-hit districts to 18, halts funds for four states

Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh have been taken out of the list of Naxal-affected states and will not receive Security-Related Expenditure (SRE) support from the Centre, said officials. On Tuesday, the government cut the number of districts facing Left wing extremism to 18 from 38.

The CPI (Maoist) was formed in 2004 with the merger of People's War (PW), then operating in Andhra Pradesh, and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) that had its presence in Bihar and adjoining areas.

Under the SRE scheme, the Centre has released Rs 2,568.49 crore since 2017-18, as per a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statement. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala had received funding under the programme.


According to MHA data, between 2004 and 2024 (till December 15), 8,851 people have been killed by Left wing extremists in different parts of India. Most of those killed are tribals, often branded as "police informers".

After the review on Tuesday, four districts from Chhattisgarh (Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur and Sukma) and one each from Jharkhand (West Singhbhum) and Maharashtra (Gadchiroli) have been removed from the list of LWE-hit districts

The number of "districts of concern" has reduced to six from nine. These six districts are in Andhra (Alluri Sitarama Raju), MP (Balaghat), Odisha (Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Malkangiri), and Telangana (Bhadradri- Kothagudem). The number of other affected districts has come down to six from 17. These are in Chhattisgarh (Dantewada, Gariaband and Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki), Jharkhand (Latehar), Odisha (Nuapada) and Telangana (Mulugu).

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has been implementing a programme to increase road connectivity in 34 districts that had been classified as affected by LeWE. This scheme envisaged construction of 5,361 km of roads, of which 5,178 km have been completed, according to the MHA.