Reds weakened, govt plans big blow

NEW: The home ministry has directed Central forces and state police personnel deployed in Naxal-hit areas to make a decisive push to tackle Maoists in the limited geographical area to which they have retreated in the wake of their shrinking influence over the past five years.
A review meeting chaired by home secretary Rajiv Gauba here on Tuesday also decided to push for greater connectivity of Naxal-hit areas through construction of roads, which would not only offer the locals timely access to facilities like hospitals but also ensure secure movement of counter-Naxal forces.
As per an assessment of security agencies shared at the review meeting, the geographical area of dominance of Left-wing extremists has shrunk with their cadres retreating to a narrow area, mostly trijunctions along Chhattisgarh-Odisha-Maharashtra border and Chattisgarh-Jharkhand-MP border. Also, there are inputs that the Maoists are trying to set up bases in new tri-junctions such as Kerala-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.
The home ministry had informed Lok Sabha last week that Naxal violence was reported from 60 districts across 8 states last year. In fact, two-thirds of the violent incidents were reported from 10 districts.
A senior home ministry official told TOI that the strategy now being pursued by Left-wing extremists is two-fold: go into new areas and target security forces in IED attacks rather than engage them in an armed confrontation.
Maoists, as per the Centre's assessment, are finding it difficult to get new recruits as local tribals have realised how they target development works while senior cadres send own children to premier educational institutions and amass property. Also, as the forces establish dominance in hitherto Naxal strongholds, the extortion funds have dried up. Democracy and political power to local tribal leaders, on the other hand, have helped reach governance and entitlement benefits to the people, claimed an officer.
"We have come to a situation where a decisive push can be made in the select areas where Naxal dominance persists," an officer said adding that a major redeployment plan was worked out last year to ensure that Central forces stationed in counter-Naxal grid are optimally utilised.
"These forces were recent diverted for Lok Sabha polls and are now being reinducted in LWE-affected districts. The meeting discussed their proper redeployment to ensure that personnel are stationed where most needed and there is no inertia or underutilisation of the forces,"said the officer.
Sources said the Central forces deployed in the states were told at Tuesday's review to consolidate their gains and advance further into Maoist strongholds where a security vacuum exists.
Also part of the anti-Naxal strategy is a move to pro-actively prevent the movement of Maoists to newer areas such as Kerala-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu tri-junction.
While the home ministry had in 2018 cut the number of Naxal hit districts entitled to Central funds under SRE scheme to 90 from 126, no further review was decided upon on Tuesday. Gauba is said to have advised the states to help the home ministry in ensuring that the funds are not spread thin and go only where required. "Don't wear the high number of districts in your jurisdiction as a badge of honour," the state chief secretaries were told.