India On Track To Eradicating Maoism By Next Year? What The Numbers Show

NDTV

2 days ago

New Delhi:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly said that the government is committed to eradicating Maoism from India by March 2026, and the goal got a fillip when at least 27 Maoists - including top leader Nambala Keshavrao alias Basavaraju, who carried a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore - were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh earlier this month.
Data accessed by NDTV shows that the government and the security forces are inching closer towards the target of ending the Maoist movement, which began in 1967.
Home ministry data reveals that there were 1,936 incidents of Maoist violence in 2010, which came down to just 374 in 2024 - a drop of 81%.
The number of Maoist-affected districts has also seen a steep fall, going from 126 in 2013 to 70 in 2021 and just 18 as of April this year.
Death Count Decreasing Too
In terms of civilian deaths in Maoist violence, the number was 720 in 2010, came down to 150 in 2019 and stood at 131 last year, up from 106 in 2023. There have been 19 such deaths until March this year.
When the aggregate of deaths of civilians and security forces' personnel is taken into account, the figure was 1,005 in 2010 and went down by 85% to 150 last year.
Infrastructure Targeting
Over the years, Maoists have been targeting infrastructure such as railway property, public and private sector units, telephone exchanges, mobile towers, roads and schools. These incidents have also decreased from 365 in 2010 to 75 in 2017, and just 25 in 2024.
Naxals Killed
According to reports, over 150 Maoists have been killed in just the first few months of this year. The figure was 136 in 2017, went up to 380 in 2023 and stood at 290 last year.
After the encounter in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur earlier this month, Home Minister Shah had said it was the first time in three decades that a general secretary of the CPI-Maoist had been killed.
"Also glad to share that after the completion of Operation Black Forest, 54 Naxalites have been arrested and 84 Naxalites have surrendered in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Maharashtra. The Modi government is resolved to eliminate Naxalism before the 31st of March 2026," he had said.