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REFERENCE NOTE

No.07/RN/Ref/January/2017

For the use of Members of Parliament NOT FOR PUBLICATION1

NAXAL PROBLEM IN INDIA

Prepared by Shri G. Ranga Rao, Additional Director (23035251) and Shri Vinod Kumar, R.O. of Lok

Sabha Secretariat under the supervision of Smt. Kalpana Sharma, Joint Secretary and Shri R.N. Das,

Director.

The reference material is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties, and is not for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the source of information as it is based on the sources indicated at the end/in the text publication.

MEMBERS' REFERENCE SERVICE

LARRDIS

LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT, NEW DELHI

NAXAL PROBLEM IN INDIA

Naxalism or Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is one of the major challenges to India's

internal security. Maoist motto, "power flows from the barrel of gun", is their motivating

force. Naxalites seek to overthrow the State through violent means. They openly proclaim

lack of faith in the democratic means of ballot and adhere to the violence as a means of

achieving their ends. Naxal affected areas in India are known as the 'Red Corridor'1.

The Naxal movement started with the tribal-peasant uprising against landlords in

Naxalbari village of Darjiling district, West Bengal in 1967. The uprising was led by

leaders such as Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal. Later, this militant

movement spread all over West Bengal and was carried on by a large number of other

groups2 in different States. In a significant development in 2004, two main naxal groups,

namely the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) and People’s War merged to form

the CPI (Maoist) party. Eventually, by 2008 most of the other Naxal groups were merged

into CPI (Maoist) which emerged as the umbrella of Naxalite outfits. Naxals are also

known for their liaison with external terrorist outfits like LTTE for pooling of resources,

particularly in the acquisition of weaponry, communication technology and the like.

The philosophy of armed struggle to overthrow the State system is anathema to

democracy and open societies. The Government of India has given a call to these groups

to abjure violence and join the mainstream political processes by adopting constitutional

means. Naxals rejected this call as they believe in bullet and not ballot. As a result,

between 2013 and 2016 (till 30th

June) around 44 civilians and 238 security personnel

have been killed in Naxal violence across India. (For details, please see Annexure-I)

1 Red Corridor spreads from Bihar to Tamil Nadu involving 16 provinces of India and nearly 200 districts of these States. Worst affected States are: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 2 Some important Maoist Groups are: Maoist Unity Centre (Maharashtra), Peoples War Group (Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh), CPI (Marxist & Leninist) (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal), Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) and CPI (ML) Red Flag (Bihar) and CPI-MC Janashakti (Kerela).

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Dynamics of Naxal Violence

Violence being the driving force of Naxal ideology, they often resort to killing and

kidnap. The Maoist insurgency doctrine glorifies violence as the primary means to

overthrow the existing socio-economic and political structures. The Peoples Liberation

Guerilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of CPI (Maoist), has been created for this

purpose. In the first stage of the insurgency, the PLGA resorts to guerrilla warfare which

aims at creating a fear psychosis in the existing governance structures. This is attempted

by killing lower-level government officials, local police personnel, workers of

mainstream political parties and elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions.

In the areas under Maoist domination, the absence of governance, which is created

by their violent methods in the first place, becomes a self- fulfilling prophecy. The

service delivery systems are extinguished through killing, kidnap, intimidation and

extortion. Kidnapping high value targets like Districts Magistrates is done to negotiate

the release of high value arrested cadres. Sometimes, insurgency itself is seen as a form

of livelihood by the cadres. In the meanwhile, many frontal organisations are created to

facilitate mass-mobilisation in semi-urban and urban areas through ostensibly democratic

means. Most of these frontal organisations are led by highly-educated people who have a

firm faith in the insurgency doctrine and provide intellectual support to the movement in

the name of fighting exploitation of tribals. These people function as masks to cover the

vicious nature of Naxal ideology. When Naxals are killed in counter insurgency

operations, these ideologues raise concerns about human rights violations. When Naxals

kill innocent people, they are completely silent. They often function as negotiators when

the Naxals kidnap senior officials. This trend is visible in the attitude of reputed

University professors. They also form propaganda/disinformation machinery of the party.

They stridently take up issues like ‘displacement of tribals’, ‘corporate exploitation’,

‘human rights violations’ by security forces etc., and often make fantastic claims in this

regard which get reported well in the mainstream media. The frontal organisations also

skillfully use State structures and legal processes to further their agenda and weaken the

State mechanism. Important functions of these organisations include recruitment of

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‘professional revolutionaries’, raising funds for insurgency, creating safe houses for

underground cadres, providing legal assistance to arrested cadres and mass-mobilisation

by agitating over issues of relevance/convenience. They also have a strategic game-plan

of creating a ‘United Front’ with like-minded insurgent/terrorist outfits in India.

Ban on the Movement: The Maoists, the major Left Wing Extremist organization

responsible for more than 80% of the incidents of violence/casualties, has been included

in the Schedule of Terrorist Organizations, along with all its formations and frontal

organizations on 22 June, 2009 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 19673.

Government of India's Approach: 'Police' and 'Public Order' being State subjects, the

responsibility for maintaining law and order is primarily the domain of the State

Governments. The Central Government closely monitors the situation and supplements

and coordinates States efforts in several ways. The Government’s approach is to deal

with Left Wing Extremism in a holistic manner, in the areas of security, development,

ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities, improvement in governance,

especially service delivery mechanism, and public perception management. After various

high-level deliberations and interactions with States concerned, a detailed analysis of the

spread and trends of Left Wing Extremist violence has been made. On its basis, 106

districts in nine States have been taken up for special attention with regard to planning,

implementation and monitoring various interventions to curb the Maoist menace.

Specific measures taken by the Central Government:

Review and monitoring mechanisms: A number of review and monitoring

mechanisms have been put in place by the Government of India in this regard and the

Ministry of Home Affairs monitors the situation on a regular basis at various levels.

Strengthening the intelligence gathering mechanism: In order to counter the

growing challenge of LWE activities, several steps have been taken to strengthen and

upgrade the capabilities of intelligence agencies at the Central and State levels. These

include intelligence sharing through Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) at the Central and

State levels, and Multi Agency Centre (SMAC) at the subsidiary level on a 24x7 basis.

3 The Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (ii) dated June 22, 2009.

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Better inter-state coordination: The area of operation of the Maoist cadres is not

confined to one single State. It is often spread over two or more States. Government of

India has taken a number of steps to improve inter-state coordination which includes

frequent meetings and interactions between the official machinery of the bordering

districts of Left Wing Extremism affected States across the country. States such as Bihar,

Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra are particularly vulnerable to Naxal

violence. Interestingly, West Bengal where it originated ceased to be on their radar now.

Tackling the challenge of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs): IED is the

most potent weapon in the hands of Maoists. The Union Home Ministry has formulated a

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on ‘Issues related to Explosives/IEDs/Landmines in

naxal affected areas’ and the same has been circulated to the stakeholders for compliance.

Strengthening of air support: State Governments and the Central Armed Police

Forces (CAPFs) have been provided with enhanced air support in terms of UAVs and

helicopters for anti-naxal operations, including evacuation of causalities/injured persons.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA’S INTERVENTIONS

A. Security Related Measures

Deployment of the CAPFs: Battalions of the CAPFs/Naga Battalions (BNs) are

deployed for assisting the State Police in the LWE affected States. Three Battalions of

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are proposed to be deployed in Chhattisgarh shortly.

Additional battalions of CAPFs are provided to the LWE affected States to the extent

possible depending upon the severity of insurgency operations, availability of forces,

requests of the State Government and related factors.

India Reserve (IR)/Specialised India Reserve Battalion (SIRB): Naxal affected States

have been sanctioned 45 IR battalions mainly to strengthen their security apparatus and

also to enable the States to provide gainful employment to youth, particularly in the

severely affected belts. In addition, Government has sanctioned raising of nine new

SIRBs in some LWE States. SIRB has 2 companies of engineering component to assist

the forces in creating infrastructure such as roads, barracks, police stations, etc.

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Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme: Under the Security Related Expenditure

scheme, funds are provided for meeting the recurring expenditure relating to insurance,

training and operational needs of the security forces, rehabilitation of Left Wing

Extremist cadres who surrender, community policing, security related infrastructure for

village defence committees and publicity material to create awareness against violence.

Construction/Strengthening of Fortified Police Stations: The Ministry of Home

Affairs has been implementing a scheme to assist State Governments in the

construction/strengthening of 400 Fortified Police Stations @ Rs. 2.00 crore per police

station in the Naxal affected districts on 80:20 (Centre share: State share) basis. So far,

278 fortified Police Stations have been constructed. The Ministry has initiated another

phase in which 250 more police stations will be fortified @ Rs. 2.50 crore per station.

Scheme for Special Infrastructure (SSI): This Scheme was started during the 11th

Plan

period with 100% funding by the Centre for filling up critical infrastructure gaps, not be

covered under any other scheme. The Scheme was continued during the 12th

Plan Period

with a new objective of funding training infrastructure, residential infrastructure,

weaponry, vehicles etc. for upgrading and filling critical gaps of Special Forces of the

LWE affected States. The funding pattern was changed from 100% by the Centre to cost

sharing at 75:25 ratio between Centre and States. This scheme continued upto 2014-15. It

has since been delinked from central assistance following the recommendations of the

14th Finance Commission raising devolution of funds to States from 32% to 42%.

B. Development Related Measures:

Monitoring and Implementation of Flagship Programmes: Implementation of

flagship programmes is closely monitored by an Empowered Committee under the MHA.

Integrated Action Plan (IAP)/ Additional Central Assistance (ACA): The NITI

Aayog (the then Planning Commission) had commenced the IAP in 2010-11 covering 60

Tribal and Backward districts for accelerated development by providing public

infrastructure and services. The Scheme was extended to 82 districts in 2012. From 2012-

13, the scheme was renamed as ACA and extended to 88 districts covering 76 LWE

affected districts. The major works included under IAP/ACA relate to construction of

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Schools, Anganwadi centers, drinking water facilities, construction of rural roads,

Panchayat Bhawans/Community Halls, Godowns/PDS shops, livelihood activities, skill

development/training, minor irrigation works, electric lighting, health centres/facilities,

Ashram schools, construction of toilets, multi-purpose chabutaras, passenger waiting

halls, special coaching classes for students, and development of play grounds etc. This

scheme was in force upto 2014-15 and discontinued from central assistance from 2015-

16. Of 1,64,859 projects taken up, 1,39,729 projects have been completed by 7.1.2016.

Road Requirement Plan-I (RRP-I)- The Government approved RRP-I on 26.02.2009

for providing adequate connectivity in 34 LWE affected districts of 8 States. The RRP-I

envisages construction of 5,422 kms of roads at a cost of Rs. 8,490 crore. Out of this,

3887 kms of roads have been completed at a cost of Rs. 5,341 crore as on 31.12.2015.

RRP-II- In order to further improve road connectivity in 44 Districts of 9 LWE affected

States, a detailed list of proposals for construction of 342 roads (totaling 5,466.31 Kms)

and 126 bridges has been included in the EFC note of Ministry of Rural Development.

Installation of Mobile Towers: In 2014, Union Cabinet approved the construction of

mobile towers at 2199 locations, identified by the MHA in consultation with BSNL/ State

Governments in 10 States. By 2015, 932mobile towers were operationalised.

Implementation of Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers

(Recognition of Rights) Act, 2006: The Government has enacted this Act to recognize

and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest lands among forest dwelling scheduled

tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, who have been residing in forests for

generations, but whose rights could not be recorded. The Rules were notified on

01.01.2008 and have been further amended on 06.09.2012 to ensure better

implementation. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has also issued comprehensive guidelines

on issues relating to implementation of the Act. (For details, please see Annexure-II.)

Civic Action Programme (CAP): This Scheme is under implementation from 2010-11.

Under this scheme, funds are provided to the CAPFs (CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB) @ Rs.

3.00 lakh per company per year for conducting welfare activities in their deployment

areas in LWE affected States. This is a very successful scheme to bridge the gap between

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the Security Forces and the local populace and also helpful in winning the hearts and

minds of the populace. For the financial year 2016-17, an amount of Rs. 19.00 crore has

been allocated and the entire amount has been released to the CAPFs.

Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy: The Government of India has issued revised

guidelines for ‘Surrender-cum Rehabilitation Scheme of Left Wing Extremists in the

affected States,’ which is effective from 01.04.2013. The rehabilitation package in the

revised policy, inter-alia, includes an immediate grant of Rs. 2.5 lakh for higher ranked

LWE cadres and Rs. 1.5 lakh for middle/lower rank cadres surrendered, to be kept in

their name as fixed deposit which may be withdrawn after completion of 3 years subject

to good behaviour. They will also be imparted training in a trade/ vocation of their liking

and paid a monthly stipend of Rs. 4,000 for 3 years. Besides, incentives for surrender of

weapons/ ammunition are also provided under the Scheme. The Government of India will

provide 100 % reimbursement of this expenditure to the States under the SRE Scheme.

Conclusion:

There is a widely accepted view that the Naxal problem can be tackled successfully

through a combination of development and security related interventions. The problem is

not to be viewed entirely as a law and order issue. Often, innocent tribals who live in the

interior forest regions fall a prey to Naxal intimidation. Innocent tribal people are killed

merely on the suspicion of being police informers. Thus, it is clear that the Maoists do not

want the State to address root causes like underdevelopment in a meaningful manner

since they resort to destroying school buildings, roads, railways, bridges, health

infrastructure, communication facilities etc in a major way. However, the Government

and informed sections of society are optimistic of eradicating the LWE problem through

a multi-pronged approach and a strategic vision. It is note-worthy that due to the

measures initiated by the Government, LWE violence has significantly declined in the

last five years, from 2011 to 2015. The multi-pronged efforts of the Government are

slowly showing positive impact and results.

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Bibliography:

1. Threats to India's Internal Security; Issues and Challenges by Sanjay Kumar and

Anurag Jaiswal, 2014.

2. http://mha.nic.in/naxal_new

3. India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Annual Report 2015-16.

4. The Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (ii) dated June

22, 2009.

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Annexure-I

Details of LWE Attacks including Landmines on Security Forces

2013

S. State Incidents Deaths SFs Civilians SFs LWEs LWEs

No. (SFs/Civilians) killed killed injured killed arrested

1. Andhra Pradesh 2 1 1 0 0 0 64

2. Bihar 10 32 27 5 14 0 312

3. Chhattisgarh 102 57 38 19 63 1 387

4. Jharkhand 14 18 17 1 22 0 332

5. Madhya 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Pradesh

6. Maharashtra 12 5 5 0 11 0 38

7. Odisha 3 5 5 0 3 0 129

8. Telangana 0 0 0 0 0 0 88

9. Uttar Pradesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

10. West Bengal 0 0 0 0 0 0 21

11. Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 20

Total 143 118 93 25 113 1 1397

2014




2. Bihar 10 6 5 1 16 0 383

3. Chhattisgarh 109 67 56 11 69 3 687

4. Jharkhand 16 11 8 3 35 0 396


6. Maharashtra 11 11 11 0 22 0 18

7. Odisha 6 0 0 0 2 0 82

8. Telangana 0 0 0 0 0 0 32


10. West Bengal 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

11. Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 14

Total 155 96 81 15 144 3 1696

2015




2. Bihar 3 2 2 0 10 0 553

3. Chhattisgarh 105 27 27 0 64 0 512

4. Jharkhand 3 2 2 0 1 0 381


6. Maharashtra 1 0 0 0 0 0 20

7. Odisha 6 4 3 1 7 0 60

8. Telangana 0 0 0 0 0 0 52


10. West Bengal 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

11. Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 37

Total 118 35 34 1 82 0 1668

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2016 (Upto June 30)




2. Bihar 1 1 1 0 2 0 254

3. Chhattisgarh 53 19 17 2 37 0 452

4. Jharkhand 6 8 7 1 14 0 213


6. Maharashtra 5 3 3 0 6 0 3

7. Odisha 2 2 2 0 0 1 30

8. Telangana 1 0 0 0 0 0 13


10. West Bengal 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

11. Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 11

Total 69 33 30 3 60 1 1006

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Annexure-II

The State-wise disposal of claims in respect of implementation of forest rights in

respect of title deeds for land ownership in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States,

as on 31.12.2015.

State Claims Approved Title deeds Claims Total No. % of

received by the distributed rejected of Claims Disposal of

District Level Disposed claims

State

Claims

received

Approved by

the District

Level

Committee

(Col. 6-5)

Title deeds

distributed

Claims

rejected

Total No. of

claims

disposed

% of

Disposal of

Claims

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Andhra 4,11,012 1,69,370 1,69,370 1,65,466 3,34,836 (81.47%)

Pradesh

Bihar 8,022 222 222 4,102 4,324 (53.90%)

Chhattisgarh 8,60,364 3,52,457 3,47,789 5,07,907 8,60,364 (100%)

Jharkhand 83,553 43, 721 43,125 25,446 69,167 (82.78%)

Madhya 6,09,501 2,31,991 2,16,957 3,72,125 6,04,116 (99.12%)

Pradesh

Maharashtra 3,53,169 1,09,292 1,09,292 2,29,794 3,39,086 (96.01%)

Odisha 6,14,805 3,85,487 3,54,100 1,48.974 5,34,461 (86.93%)

Telangana 2,15,370 1,00,230 100,230 1,01,368 2,01,598 (93.61%)

Uttar 93,644 18,555 18,555 74,945 93,500 (99.85%)

Pradesh

West Bengal 1,42,081 42,573 42,573 91,529 1,34,102 (94.38%)

Total 33,91,521 14,53,898 14,02,455 17,21,656 31,75,554 93.63%

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