Chennai: In an apparent bid to connect Left wing extremism (LEW)-affected districts to mainstream India, 627 new bank branches & 947 ATMs have been opened in 30 most affected districts in last 4 years between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2019.
In addition, 1,759 branch post offices have been opened since 1 April 2017 in core LWE-affected districts, as part of financial inclusion in such districts.
Government data shows that installation of mobile towers in LWE-affected districts is being implemented by the Department of Telecom.
In the first phase, 2,335 mobile towers have been installed and 4,072 more have been approved in phase-2 of the project in 10 LWE-affected States.
Special Central assistance (SCA) for providing public infrastructure and services of emergent nature in the most LWE-affected districts is also in process. This scheme is for three years between 2017-18 and 2019-20 with an outlay of Rs 3,000 crore.
In the area of skill development in LWE-affected districts, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE) envisages construction of one ITI in each of the 47 districts and 2 skill development centres (SDCs) in each of 34 districts. So far, 22 ITIs and 55 SDCs have been completed.
Further, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) has sanctioned seven new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and six new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in districts most affected by LWE and which did not have any KV and JNVs. Under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), 1,590 new and upgraded schools and 349 girls hostels have been sanctioned.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is implementing the road connectivity project in 34 LWE-affected districts of nine States.
The scheme envisages construction of 5,422 km roads, of which 4,809 km roads have been completed. And in the second phase of the project by MoRTH, the project is being implemented in 44 LWE-affected districts of 10 States and the scheme envisages construction of 5,412-km roads.
Sanction has been granted to States for 4,574 km of roads, of which 644-km have been completed.
In a written response to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the government’s Action Plan-2015 has resulted in consistent decline in LWE-related violence and considerable shrinkage in their geographical spread.
| Ground report |
| In total 60 districts in eight States – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana – Left Wing Extremism related violence have been reported in 2018. Jharkhand is the most affected with 18 districts. |