Internal Security

Left Wing Extremism spread through a 'Red Corridor' running from Bihar to Andhra Pradesh, and in 2010 it was described from the highest levels as India's gravest internal security threat. At its widest it covered 126 districts, and violence peaked at 2,258 incidents in 2009. The affected belt was largely tribal, forested and roadless — the absence of the state was the insurgency's best recruiting argument.

The number of LWE-affected districts fell from 126 in 2014 to 38 by April 2024 and 8 by December 2025. Between 2010 and 2025, violent incidents fell 88% and deaths 90%. After the public deadline of 31 March 2026, no district remains officially classified as LWE-affected.

The strategy runs on three tracks at once. Security: more central armed police camps pushed into the interior, better intelligence and joint state operations. Development: thousands of kilometres of roads under the Road Requirement Plan, 9,497 mobile towers, new bank branches, post offices and Eklavya model schools in tribal blocks. Rehabilitation: surrender-and-resettlement packages that give cadres a route back to civilian life. Development follows security into each cleared area, so the vacuum does not reopen.

On cross-border terrorism a new doctrine took shape over the same decade: the surgical strikes across the Line of Control in 2016, the Balakot air strike in 2019, and Operation Sindoor in 2025. Domestically, the NIA was strengthened, the UAPA amended to designate individuals as terrorists, and a National Investigation Agency-led framework built for terror financing cases.

126 → 0 districts officially LWE-affected (2014 → April 2026). 88% fall in LWE violence, 2010–2025. 9,497 mobile towers commissioned. 31 March 2026 — deadline met; one district of concern remains. Sources: Ministry of Home Affairs, PIB.