How the government’s reworked strategy is making Naxalism history

Naxalism has been a menace in this country since the Naxal Movement started in 1967. Between 2014 and 2024, there has been a 53% decline in Naxal activity, as estimated by the Centre, which has said that the count of Naxal-affected districts has decreased from 128 to 18.

The activity decline has led to a 73% drop in security personnel deaths and a 70% reduction in civilian casualties. This is a remarkable achievement, reflecting the Union government’s commitment to effectively extinguish Naxalism in India. Since law-and-order is a state subject, the role of state governments in this effort must also be appreciated.

The Centre’s comprehensive strategy: In March, the home ministry outlined a four-pronged strategy for the mammoth task of ridding India of the Naxal threat. First, it focused on strengthening the law-and-order infrastructure in affected states by adequately equipping police forces as well as the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), particularly with modern assault rifles and other weapons. It also invested in their training, integration and capacity-building.

Second, the Union government established camps called Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). These are operated jointly by the CAPF and state police. As of March, around 302 of these camps had been established. Third, the government has been taking steps to restrict the funding of Naxals. The fourth and perhaps the most important effort has been to focus on development to reduce discontent among people.

How has the Centre’s strategy changed: The Union government’s stance on tackling the menace of Naxal violence has changed considerably. Up until 2014, there was no national strategy to complement the efforts of affected states. This was perhaps one of the biggest failures of the previous government—the lack of a uniform national strategy to facilitate Centre-state coordination for curbing the threat.

The reasoning behind this could have arguably been that since matters of public order and policing are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of India’s Constitution, the Union government deemed it fit at the time to let states deal with the complex issue of Naxalism. However, given the rate at which Naxal attacks were growing in the country, the incumbent government decided to recognize the problem and intervene sharply after coming to power in 2014.

In 2015, New Delhi introduced a National Policy and Action Plan that sought to end Naxalism in the country. This was the first instance of the government coming out with a comprehensive strategy that focused on addressing a combination of factors that were helping Naxals get away with impunity.

With this shift, the government was no longer looking at solving these problems in isolation of each other, but focused on solving them in tandem with each other as well as attacking the root cause of the Naxal movement—discontent among people.

To this end, in the last decade, there has been a remarkable effort on the Union government’s part to implement good governance schemes.

As per data shared by the minister of state for home affairs in the Upper House of Parliament, in the five years from 2019-20 to 2023-24, the Centre has released ₹4,350.8 crore for capacity-building initiatives in Naxal-affected districts of the country.

The Union government has also streamlined the process for Naxal surrenders by improving the formal surrender and rehabilitation guidelines. While this scheme was introduced before the current government came to power, it has been augmented by not just instant compensation packages for Naxals who lay down arms, but also their reintegration with society.

For example, the ‘good village’ scheme in the state of Chhattisgarh seeks to provide welfare, education and employment opportunities to surrendered cadres. Such schemes target Naxals who are already disillusioned with the movement and incentivize them to give up arms in exchange for the prospect of a better life.

Peace in ‘red corridors’: The Union government has made considerable strides in eliminating Naxalism through a comprehensive strategy characterized by enhanced dialogue, security and coordination. Its success is reflected in the mass surrender of Naxals over the past decade.

As per data released by the ministry of home affairs in both Houses of Parliament and conveyed through press briefings, Naxal surrenders before 2014 were in the hundreds, whereas surrenders have numbered in the thousands since then. Between 2009 and 2014, government data shows that 2,132 Naxals surrendered. In 2023 and 2024 alone, there were 1,045 and 928 surrenders, respectively.

In October this year, there has been another significant increase in the number of Naxals who have put down their guns.

These mass surrenders, coupled with the Union government’s comprehensive strategy to combat Naxalism, suggest that this insurgency is finally dying out in India.

The author is a former member of the Rajya Sabha, former CAG bureaucrat and founding partner of A&N Legal Solutions LLP.