Will end Naxalism by 2026, says Union Home Minister Amit Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the government is committed to completely eradicate Naxalism from the country before March 2026. Speaking at the anti-naxal review at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Shah added that a Special Investigation Agency (SIA) of the states will be set up for investigation and prosecution on the lines of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the state government will come up with a new surrender cum rehabilitation policy.

The home minister noted that the Modi government is fighting a successful battle against Left-Wing Extremism with a strategy on all three fronts of development, prosecution and operation, as a result of which this problem has now been reduced to a great extent. "He said that now this problem is limited to a few pockets of Chhattisgarh. Due to the steps taken by the Chhattisgarh Government, it has done much better work in the last 7 months. He said that in these 7 months, the maximum number of Naxalites have been neutralised, maximum number of Naxalites have surrendered and have been nabbed," according to a statement issued by the Home ministry.

Shah stressed that to give more impetus to the campaign against LWE, all the Director Generals of Police should prepare an action plan by holding meetings with the team engaged in Naxal operations in their states every week. He said that along with this, the Chief Secretaries should hold a review meeting of the development works related to the Naxal affected areas every fortnight. He said that unless the Naxal operations are monitored continuously, we will not be able to achieve the desired outcome, the statement reads.