LWE violence decreased by 20 pc: MHA

There has been a 20 per cent decrease in violence related to Left Wing Extremism (LWE) from 2013 to 2017 in the country, along with a 34 per cent reduction in deaths, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Monday.

"The geographical spread of the LWE violence has also shrunk from 76 districts in 2013 to 58 in 2017," it added.

"This follows the implementation of the government's National Policy and Action Plan in 2015 for a multi-pronged strategy involving security- and development-related measures. The list of most LWE-affected districts has been pruned to 30 from 36," an official statement said.

The MHA had categorised 106 districts in 10 states as LWE-affected.

These districts are covered under a security-related expenditure scheme entailing reimbursement to the affected states for security-related expenditure like transportation, communication, hiring of vehicles, stipend for surrendered Maoists, and temporary infrastructure for the forces.

A significant feature of the new policy has been zero-tolerance for violence, coupled with a big push to developmental activities in the affected areas, it added.

--IANS

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