GS Paper III — Q10
The Government of India recently stated that Left Wing Extremism (LWE) will be eliminated by 2026. What do you understand by LWE…
The Government of India recently stated that Left Wing Extremism (LWE) will be eliminated by 2026. What do you understand by LWE and how are the people affected by it ? What measures have been taken by the government to eliminate LWE ? (Answer in 150 words) 10 marks
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
भारत सरकार ने हाल ही में घोषणा की है कि वामपंथी उग्रवाद (एल डब्ल्यू ई) 2026 तक समाप्त कर दिया जाएगा। आप एल डब्ल्यू ई से क्या समझते हैं तथा जनता इससे किस प्रकार प्रभावित है ? एल डब्ल्यू ई को समाप्त करने के लिए सरकार ने क्या उपाय किए हैं ? (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए)
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
Left Wing Extremism (LWE) refers to an armed Maoist insurgency operating across the 'Red Corridor' (states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha) seeking to overthrow the constitutional state through violent revolution.
Impact on People: LWE causes civilian casualties, extortion, forced displacement, and coercive recruitment of tribal youth. By deliberately targeting schools, roads, and healthcare centres, extremists deny basic public services and perpetuate severe socio-economic underdevelopment in tribal belts.
Government Measures: Security Framework: Implementation of the holistic SAMADHAN doctrine, Operation Green Hunt, joint CAPF deployments, and surrender-cum-rehabilitation policies, which cut LWE-affected districts from 126 (2018) to 38 (2024) and the most-affected districts to three by October 2025. Developmental Interventions: Road Connectivity Project for LWE Areas (RCPLWE), installation of telecom mobile towers, establishing Eklavya Model Residential Schools, PMGAY housing, and focused development through the Aspirational Districts Programme.
Consequently, violent incidents declined from 1,936 in 2010 to around 500 in 2023. After the killing of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju (May 2025) and mass surrenders, the Union government declared LWE effectively ended as an organised armed threat by the 31 March 2026 target date. Keeping it so requires resolving structural issues, notably tribal land alienation, Forest Rights Act implementation gaps, and governance deficits.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: Security: classify threat, vulnerability, response; stay calm
What earns full marks: Precise definition, clear impact analysis, specific legal and developmental measures cited.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- The answer Explain LWE, how it affects people, and the measures taken to eliminate it. 10 marks · 150 words
explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close
Must cover
- Define LWE (Maoist/Naxalite armed insurgency seeking to overthrow the State)
- Impact on people: violence, extortion, displacement, denial of schools, roads and health services
- Security measures: SAMADHAN strategy, CAPF deployment, intelligence-led operations, surrender and rehabilitation policy, ban on CPI (Maoist) under UAPA
- Developmental measures: road and mobile connectivity, EMRS, banking, Aspirational Districts, FRA rights
Loses marks
- Dramatic or emotional writing
- Vague generalities without specific measures
- Ignoring the impact on people
Earns more
- Specific states and districts (Chhattisgarh's Bastar, Jharkhand, Odisha)
- Decline data: districts from 126 (2018) to 38 (2024), most-affected to three by October 2025
- March 2026 target and the government's declaration that LWE was effectively ended
- Structural issues: land alienation, PESA and FRA implementation
Extra mark
- Violence figures (peak of 1,936 incidents in 2010)
- Neutralisation of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju (May 2025) and mass surrenders
What "Explain" is asking you to do
Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.
Structure that answers it
State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces
Where marks are lost
Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
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