Political and Social Issues:

The Centre's strategy to revamp the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) to counter the problem of Left-Wing Extremism seems to have run into a rough patch within the Planning Commission.
After a review, the Centre increased the number of these districts from 60 to 78. Each district is given Rs. 30 crore annually to take up any work or project demanded by the people of the region. Projects are cleared by a committee comprising the District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police and the District Forest Officer.
Mr. Ramesh laid stress on adopting a block-based approach to the IAP for, individual blocks within a district did happen to be affected by Maoist violence even though the district itself may not be classified as LWE-affected.