Bhubaneswar: There is a gradual improvement in the situation of left-wing extremism in the state and around 40 Maoists are now active in six districts, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Sharan Majhi said on Monday.
Majhi, who is also in charge of the Home Ministry, said this while responding to a written question from BJD MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo.
Pointing out that the state government was working to end LWE across Odisha by March 31, 2026, he said, “There has been a gradual improvement in the LWE situation in the state and about 40 Maoists are working in splinter groups across six districts.”
The Maoists are primarily active in parts of Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Boudh, Bolangir and Bargarh districts.
The Prime Minister said that only Odisha’s Kandhamal district falls in the ‘other LWE affected districts’ category under the Centre’s security-related expenditure scheme. The SRE classifies areas based on the level of LWE impact.
Apart from this, Majhi said eight other districts had earlier secured a place under SRE due to high incidents of Naxal activities and have now been downgraded to the less serious ‘Legacy and Pay’ category. These districts are Malkangiri, Koraput, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Boudh, and Bolangir.
Outside the association, Additional Director General Sanjeeb Panda said that Odisha Police is currently focusing on Kandhamal district, which comes under the “other LWE affected district”.
He said two Maoists, including a member of the district committee, were shot dead in Kandhamal during an encounter on Sunday.
Panda also said that the state police have prepared a scheme to completely eliminate LWE from Odisha in line with the deadline set by the Center to make the country “Maoist-free” by the end of March 2026.
To achieve the goal of making Odisha “Maoist free”, the state government has fielded nearly 7,000 central forces of CRPF and Border Security Forces, 44 teams of Odisha’s elite Special Operations Group, 839 District Volunteer Force, 49 platoons of Indian Reserve Battalion, 29 platoons of Special Security Battalion and 92 platoons of Odisha Special Strike Force, Majhi said.
The Chief Minister said that apart from aggressively going ahead with anti-Naxal operations, the state government has also prepared an action plan at the sub-divisional level and will take steps to completely deactivate the supply chains of Maoists taking shelter in the forests.
He said while security personnel were using drones, interceptor aircraft and other technologies to eliminate the LWE menace, the police had intensified intelligence gathering and area control operations in LWE-affected areas.
The Chief Minister also informed the Assembly that earlier this month, the state government had revised the surrender and rehabilitation scheme for Maoists, restricting the benefits exclusively to activists within Odisha or indigenous people of the state. The program offers an attractive remuneration package, 10 per cent higher than that in neighboring Chhattisgarh.
After reviewing the scheme in November last year, 45 Maoists surrendered in the state. The LWE is now limited to the tri-junction area of Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Rayagada districts. Some small groups are also working in the Gandhamardhan Hills area covering Burgarh and Bolangir districts, the ADG said.
After appeals from the state government, a number of red rebels surrendered. However, some leaders, including state Communist Party committee member Sukru, are still hiding in the dense forests of Kandhamal district, an official said.
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