"Development is the most durable counter-insurgency strategy." Evaluate in light of recent gains against Left-Wing Extremism.

Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) grows where the state is missing: there are no roads, no schools and no secure rights over land and forests. The government reports that LWE-affected districts fell from 126 in 2014 to zero by March–April 2026, and that incidents fell from 870 to 33 [1]. These gains support the statement. However, development lasted only where it came after security had been established.

Development as the durable pillar

• Connectivity ends isolation: by May 2025, 14,618 km of roads had been built under the two LWE road schemes and 7,768 mobile towers had been commissioned. This is the "3-C" approach of road, mobile and financial connectivity [2].
• Human capital: 178 Eklavya Model Residential Schools are running in LWE districts [2]. They give tribal youth an alternative to joining the insurgents.
• State legitimacy: when welfare actually reaches villages, people trust the state more and the insurgents have fewer recruits to draw on.
• National consolidation: the 2026 Ekta Parade highlights gains against LWE. It also includes an NSD presentation on Naxal Mukt Bharat, showing how affected areas moved towards peace and development [3].

Why development alone is insufficient

• Security comes first: roads and towers could be built only after the forces had secured the area. The SAMADHAN strategy of 2017 [4] relied on actionable intelligence, technology and cutting off insurgent funding.
• Development can alienate people: mining and displacement without consent create new grievances. So the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and PESA, 1996 matter as much as concrete.
• Delivery gaps: 17,589 km of road was sanctioned but 14,618 km was built [2]. Projects left half-finished can create new gaps that insurgents fill.
• Ideological residue: surviving cadres can regroup if governance pulls back once operations end.

Security clears the ground, development holds it, and rights-based governance keeps it. The statement is therefore largely valid: development is the most durable strategy, but it cannot work alone. To sustain Naxal Mukt Bharat, the state should give Gram Sabhas real power under PESA and FRA, recruit locally, and keep schemes working together. This would deliver the Fifth Schedule's promise of tribal self-governance and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).