Naxal-affected districts came down from 12 to 6, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the Naxal issue is now confined to just six districts in the country, from the earlier 12. Shah said the Modi government is building a ‘Sashakt, Surakshit and Samriddh Bharat’ with a ruthless approach to Naxalism and relentless efforts for all-pervasive development.

He said Bharat is determined to uproot Naxalism for good by March 31, 2026.

“Taking a giant stride towards building a Naxal-free Bharat, today our nation achieved a new milestone by significantly reducing the number of districts most affected by left-wing extremism to just 6 from 12,” Shah posted on microblogging site X.

As per the Union home ministry data, Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts are those where Naxal activities and violence still continue.

The LWE-affected districts have been further sub-categorised as ‘most-affected districts’, a terminology brought in in 2015, and ‘districts of concern’, which was coined by the home ministry in 2021.

There were 12 ‘most-affected districts’ according to the last review. As per official records, there were 35 such districts in 2015, 30 in 2018 and 25 in 2021.