Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has affirmed that the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is on the wane in Andhra Pradesh and that the Maoist activities are confined to only a few pockets in the Agency areas.
In his address during the review meeting on LWE chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah organised in New Delhi on October 6 (Friday), Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the government could restrict the Maoist activities to a few pockets in Alluri Sitharama Raju and Parvathipuram Manyam districts. Earlier, their presence was spread over five districts, he said.
‘Cadre strength plummets’
The LWE cadre strength had also come down to 50 in 2023 from 150 in 2019. The government had effectively addressed the issues of poverty, illiteracy, inadequate healthcare and unemployment, which were the root cause of the LWE, the Chief Minister said.
This apart, distribution of RoFR pattas and bestowing ownership of 3.23 lakh acres of forest lands to 1.54 lakh eligible tribal farmers helped in containing the Maoist activities, he said.
Road, communication links
The tribal people were counselled to cultivate commercial crops. The government was completing laying of roads to an extent of 1,087 km in the LWE areas under the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA) scheme, he said.
Out of the 28 Ekalavya schools sanctioned by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry for the State, 24 were established, ensuring access to quality education for tribal children, he said, adding that the government had also initiated efforts to establish 944 communication towers in the LWE-affected areas for enhancing the connectivity and ensuring a robust communication network. These measures helped in curbing the LWE activities.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the government was also running 1,953 primary schools, 81 residential schools, 378 ashram schools and 179 pre and post-matric hostels to help the students in tribal areas, besides extending the benefits of Amma Vodi and other welfare schemes through the dedicated volunteer system and village secretariats.
Family doctors, with the support of village health clinics, were also extending preventive healthcare to the tribal people, he said, stressing the need to establish more bank branches in the tribal areas.
Stating that Andhra Pradesh had been battling LWE for over four decades, he said the multi-pronged approach, comprising security measures, development initiatives, and safeguarding the rights and entitlements of local communities under the National Policy and Action Plan, yielded positive results.
‘Concerted efforts needed’
While sharing Intelligence with the neighbouring Odisha, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh on tackling the LWE, he said, to prevent further spread of LWE, continuous and collaborative efforts were needed from both the Centre and the States.
While maintaining law and order was a State subject, it was crucial for the Centre to provide unflinching financial and strategic support to the LWE-affected States, particularly in areas of capacity-building, modernisation of the police force and developmental initiatives, he added.
