Bastar Removed from List of LWE-Affected Districts

Government Ends Special Assistance Under Left Wing Extremism Scheme

The Ministry of Home Affairs has delisted Bastar from the category of Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts, ceasing all special financial and development assistance under the LWE scheme. This move reflects a significant decline in extremist activities in the region.

The collective efforts of the administration and security forces with the aim of making the country and the state Naxal-free by March 2026 have now reached a new level. The Union Home Ministry has removed Bastar from the list of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts. However, no official announcement has been made by the Union Home Ministry (MHA) in this regard so far.

Along with removing Bastar from the list of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts, the central government has also stopped the financial assistance given to Bastar district under LWE from the new financial year starting from April. This fund of crores of rupees was released for development works and Naxal eradication in the district. This amount was released to Bastar district till March 2025, but from April 2025, the central government has banned the LWE fund.

2 out of 7 districts of the division became Naxal-free
Bastar division includes 7 districts, which include Dantewada, Bijapur, Sukma, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Kanker apart from Bastar. This year, three more districts of Chhattisgarh, Rajnandgaon, Kawardha and Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai were excluded from the Centre's LWE list.