Chhattisgarh: 14 Naxals surrender in Dantewada

• Fourteen Naxals, one of them allegedly involved in an attack wherein 25 security personnel were killed in 2017, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.
• So far, 454 Naxals, including 117 who carried rewards on their heads, have quit the violence in the district under the 'Lon Varratu' campaign.
• Under ‘Lon Varratu’ initiative, Maoists in about 50 hypersensitive villages are being encouraged to surrender by linking surrender to some livelihood opportunities to help them earn a decent living.

About Naxalism

• Naxalism is a term used to define a violent activities on behalf of landless labourers and tribal people against landlords and others by some individuals and groups.
• The Naxalite movement came to the forefront in the late 1960s, when Naxalbari became famous for the left-wing revolt that took place in West Bengal.
• Since then, it is perceived as the greatest threat to law and order within Indian.
• The movement has now advanced to the hilly and forest regions of around 8 different states, with more than 150 districts are believed to be under its direct influence.

Steps taken by the Government to control Naxalism

• Operation Green Hunt: It was started in 2010 and massive deployment of security forces was done in the naxal-affected areas.
• From 223 districts that were affected due to naxalism in the year 2010, the number has come down to around 90 in past ten years.
• The government even started ‘Relief and Rehabilitation Policy’ for bringing naxalites into mainstream.
• Aspirational Districts Programme: Launched in 2018, it aims to rapidly transform the districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.

Security-related expenditure (SRE)

• In 1996, the government introduced the security-related expenditure scheme to support the state governments in dealing with areas under the influence of Left Wing Extremism (LWE).
• It covers the training of security forces, compensation for injured civilians, infrastructure for defence facilities etc.

Operation ‘SAMADHAN’

• It is the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)’s initiative to deal the Naxal problem.
• The acronym SAMADHAN stands for Smart leadership, Aggressive strategy, Motivation and training, Actionable intelligence, Dashboard Based KPIs (key performance indicators) and KRAs (key result areas), Harnessing technology, Action plan for each theater, and No access to financing.