Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that Maoism would be “completely eradicated” by his avowed March 31 deadline, just 51 days away, after chairing a security review meeting in Raipur.

A source said the meeting, held amid a continuing offensive against the rebels, was “the final strategic assessment in the context of a Maoist-free India”.

“Today in Raipur, I held a review meeting with the Chhattisgarh government and officials on anti-Naxal operations,” Shah posted on social media.

“The security-centric strategy, infrastructure development, targeting of the Naxal financial network and the surrender policy have yielded positive results, and Naxalism will be completely eradicated before March 31.”

A home ministry official said: “The meeting is said to have finalised the road map for the ‘clear, hold, and develop’ model for the remaining areas affected by Maoists, with a special focus on the difficult terrain.”

Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, made up of seven districts, shares borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and has long been considered the strongest bastion of the Maoists.

However, the region has witnessed intensified anti-rebel operations over the past few years, considerably weakening the extremist movement.

More than 500 Maoists, including leaders such as CPI Maoist general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh since January 2024.

Around 1,900 rebels were arrested while more than 2,500 surrendered during the same period in the state, according to Chhattisgarh police.

The Chhattisgarh government is now conducting a rehabilitation campaign aimed at persuading the remaining rebels to lay down arms.

All the surrendered Maoists will be given ₹50,000 each, apart from the reward put on them and other facilities, sources said.

An Intelligence Bureau official said the security forces in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Odisha and Maharashtra had launched a coordinated manhunt for the remaining Maoist top guns to try and eradicate Maoism before the March 31 deadline.

Central government sources indicated that “back-channel talks” were on with some of the rebels with the objective of driving a wedge between the various Maoist groups.

The large-scale surrender by Maoists in Chhattisgarh, lured by the government’s cash carrot, has saddled the administration with the challenge of ensuring their security and preventing social stigma from stalling their integration into the mainstream.

Surrendered Maoists, an official said, face a constant threat from active rebel groups, while society tends to ostracise them at a time they have “lost their identity” and are trying to rebuild their lives.

The official said the government must ensure that all the promises made to the surrendered Maoists are honoured.

He said some Maoists who had surrendered in 2007-08 returned to the insurgency in 2012, feeling betrayed after the Bihar government failed to keep its promises of monetary help, a better life and free education for their children.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai, the Union home secretary, Intelligence Bureau director and the special secretary (internal security) of the home ministry attended the Raipur meeting.

Also present were the chiefs of the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the National Investigation Agency along with the police chiefs of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Telangana.