New Delhi, October 7: Union Home Minister Amit Shah once again appealed to Naxalite youth to lay down their arms and join the mainstream here on Monday.
While addressing a review meeting with the Chief Ministers of Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected states at Vigyan Bhavan, Shah appealed to Naxalite youth to lay down their arms and join the mainstream, highlighting that nearly 13,000 individuals have done so in the northeast and Jammu Kashmir.
He praised the Chhattisgarh government for its success in combating Naxalism, citing the elimination of 194 Naxalites, arrest of 801, and surrender of 742 since January.
"I congratulate the Chief Minister, Home Minister, DGP, and the entire team of Chhattisgarh. Since January, 194 Naxalites have been killed, 801 Naxalites have been arrested and 742 Naxalites have surrendered. I appeal to all the youth associated with Naxalism to leave the weapons and come into the mainstream.
Whether it is northeast or JK, almost 13000 have left the weapon and joined the mainstream," the Home Minister said.
Shah attributed the progress to the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, which saw a threefold increase in funding from Rs 1180 crore between 2004-2014 to Rs 3,006 crore from 2014-2024. The Special Central Assistance Scheme has also allocated Rs 3590 crore over the last decade.
"Under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, Rs 1180 crore was spent on this scheme from 2004-2014, while from 2014-2024 we have spent Rs 3,006 crore which is almost three times. SRE is the main scheme that contributes to the development work in the Naxal-affected areas. Under the Special Central Assistance Scheme, we have spent Rs 3590 crore in the last ten years," he said
"Before 2019, two helicopters were deployed for soldiers, but today the number has increased to 12 including six from the Border Security Force (BSF) and six of Air Force to help the soldiers. When I went to Chhattisgarh in January, we made a planned detail for development and eradication of Naxilsm," he said.
The Home Minister also mentioned that 544 fortified police stations have been built in the last 10 years.
"544 fortified police stations have been built in the last 10 years. Earlier the road network was 2900 km, in the last 10 years the road network has been increased to 11,500 km. In the last 10 years, 15,300 mobile towers have been installed and out of them, 5139 towers have been given 4G connections. Before 2014, 38 Eklavya model schools were approved but none of them were built. Now 216 schools were approved out of which 165 have been built," he said.
Shah also emphasized the significant reduction in violence and terrorism-related incidents across India.
On September 19, Amit Shah also appealed to Naxal to lay down and join the mainstream.
