The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday said that the number of districts affected by “Left-wing extremism” has come down to eight from 11 in October.
The number of districts affected by such violence in 2018 was 126, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in response to a question from Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sambit Patra.
The districts still affected by “Left-wing extremism” include Bijapur, Dantewada, Gariyaband, Kanker, Narayanpur and Sukma in Chhattisgarh, West Singhbhum in Jharkhand, and Kandhamal in Odisha, Rai said.
Three districts remained in the “most affected” category, the minister added.
The Union government had said in October that these districts were Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh.
The minister also told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that incidents of violence relating to Maoists fell by 88% from 1,936 cases in 2010 to 234 cases in 2025. Deaths of civilians and security personnel dropped by 90% from 1,005 in 2010 to 100 in 2025, Rai added.
He said that in 2025, security forces killed 364 Maoists, arrested 1,022 and facilitated the surrender of 2,337 others.
The number of police stations reporting violence related to “Left-wing extremism” also reduced from 465 in 2010 to 119 in 2025, he added.
“The government of India is committed for [the] complete eradication of Left-wing extremism from our country as well as holistic development of areas freed from Left-wing extremism,” Rai said.
The Union government has vowed to end Maoism by March 31, 2026.
In the course of the Union government’s anti-Maoist offensive in 2025, key Maoist leaders like Ganesh Uike and Madvi Hidma have been killed, while others like Vikas Nagpure, alias Anant, and Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Bhupathi, have surrendered.
A report by Malini Subramaniam for Scroll on Hidma’s killing noted that in the Andhra Pradesh village closest to where he was killed, no one heard gunfire.
She had earlier reported that while many of those killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.
Civil liberties groups and Opposition parties have also questioned some of these killings, alleging that they constitute “fake encounters”.
Also read: As Maoists retreat, why many fear security forces in Chhattisgarh villages
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