Left Wing Extremism restricted to 43 districts, 'to be eliminated by 2026'

The government's sustained campaign against Left Wing Extremism (LWE) has led to the menace being restricted to 43 districts as against 200 before 2014, sources said on Sunday.

The sources, on condition of anonymity, said over 700 Maoists have been arrested, surrendered or killed in encounters between January and September this year and exuded confidence that the country will be free from Left Wing Extremism by 2026.

In the first 100 days in office of the BJP-led NDA government's third tenure, the focus has been on implementation of the action plan to address the LWE, including building additional security camps in the Maoist affected areas.

Among other achievements of the government in the first 100 days include a peace agreement with the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) which renounced violence after 35 years of conflict.

A total of 328 armed cadres of the two outfits renounced violence and joined the mainstream of the society.

The government also launched the MANAS helpline that allows the citizens to connect with the Narcotics Control Bureau round-the-clock with anonymity to share information on drug peddling /trafficking or consult related to their issues like drug abuse, de-addiction and rehabilitation.

A 'Samanvay' platform has been introduced for all stakeholders dealing with cybercrime.

The government also plans to train 5,000 cyber commandos over the next five years as part of efforts to step up cyber security.

The Cyberdost mobile app has been launched for reporting cybercrimes and an advanced 'Cyber Fraud Mitigation Center' (CFMC), in collaboration with banks and financial intermediaries, has been established at the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

A suspect registry has been created, including mobile numbers, URLs/websites, IMEI numbers, and other identifiers.