The NDA Government is drawing up plans to drastically reduce the number of Maoist-affected districts that are currently part of the Red Corridor, reports The Hindu.
The report states that a senior official of the Home Ministry has revealed around 20 of the 106 Maoist-affected districts could be removed from the list. This will mean the centre withdrawing aid for these areas if they are dropped. These districts reportedly receive a financial aid of close to Rs 30 crore annually for various developmental work.
The report states that these Maoist-affected areas were identified in 2006 while the NDA government started its assessment on them two years ago when it came to power.
This redrawing of the Red Corridor was carried out based on certain parameters, and the names of the districts and the reasons for them being considered to be taken off the list have been communicated to the States and a response is awaited.
The 106 districts which span 10 States, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, are described as those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and constitute the ‘Red Corridor.’
Of these, 44 districts are said to be the worst-affected. India has a total of 683 districts.
2015 saw Maoist violence hit a six-year low with 1,088 incidents and 226 deaths being reported. However, 2016 has seen the number of Maoist-related incidents spike with 605 incidents and 161 deaths reported till 30 June as compared to the 592 incidents and 120 deaths during the same period last year.
(Source: The Hindu)
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