India's counter-LWE strategy has shifted from purely kinetic to a development-plus-security approach. Discuss.

Q. India's counter-LWE strategy has shifted from purely kinetic to a development-plus-security approach. Discuss. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Left Wing Extremism, long described as India's gravest internal security challenge, was once fought largely through force. The National Policy and Action Plan, 2015 recast it as a multi-pronged strategy combining security measures, development interventions and the rights and entitlements of local communities [2] — a shift that has narrowed the movement's geography without abandoning the kinetic core.

The kinetic backbone, now smarter - The SAMADHAN doctrine gave operations a framework — actionable intelligence, technology, theatre-specific action plans and no access to financing [2]. - Fortified police stations, forward operating bases and CAPF deployment, funded through the Security Related Expenditure scheme, rebuilt state capacity in the worst-hit districts [3]. - Choking terror finance and over-ground networks mirrors the wider anti-terror-financing drive of the last decade [4].

Development as the second front - Road Connectivity Project for LWE-Affected Areas — thousands of kilometres of roads and bridges sanctioned across affected districts [2]. - Over 9,000 mobile towers installed to close the communication vacuum extremists exploited [2]. - Financial inclusion, skill development and education access, addressing the deprivation that sustained recruitment [2].

Evidence of convergence - LWE violence fell from 1,936 incidents (2010) to 234 (2025) — an 88% decline [1]. - Related deaths dropped from 1,005 to 100, about 90% [1]. - Police stations reporting LWE violence shrank from 465 to 119 [1].

Unfinished agenda - Residual pockets persist along inter-state forested corridors [3]. - Land alienation and forest-rights grievances — the structural roots — remain only partly addressed [2]. - Policing is a State subject, so gains must be held by state forces after CAPF drawdown [4].

The shift has worked because force created the security envelope within which roads, banks and schools could arrive, and development in turn dried up recruitment. Sustaining it requires shifting weight further toward governance delivery — timely Forest Rights Act implementation, credible surrender-and-rehabilitation, and permanent state police capacity — so that the retreat of extremism becomes irreversible rather than merely operational.

(~315 words)

Sources: 1. PIB — Left-Wing Extremism (Ministry of Home Affairs) — incidents 1,936→234, deaths 1,005→100, police stations 465→119 2. MHA — Left Wing Extremism Division — National Policy and Action Plan 2015, SAMADHAN, road connectivity, mobile towers, rights and entitlements 3. PIB — Breaking the Red Grip: India's Triumph Over Left Wing Extremism (May 2025) — fortified police stations, forward operating bases, residual corridors 4. PIB Backgrounder — Securing the Nation: 12 Years of India's Zero Tolerance Against Terror (19 June 2026) — disruption of terror financing, inter-agency coordination, empowerment of state police