India, April 1 -- It might be difficult to imagine today but just two decades ago, the Maoist movement held large swathes of central and eastern India in its grip. Roughly a fourth of India's districts had seen Left-wing extremism in some form, and chunks of its tribal heartland were under the writ of the insurgency. Though Naxalism first took root in the north Bengal hills in the 1970s amid simmering peasant unrest and anxiety about economic inequality, a hungrier and more violent Maoist ideology had slowly spread across central India in the 1990s, reaching its peak in the 2000s and 2010s. Even after prime minister Manmohan Singh described Maoism as India's biggest internal security challenge in 2006, the insurgency only gained in strength, inflicting severe infrastructure damage and conducting a string of attacks that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and security personnel. An ill-advised attempt to create a citizen's militia against the rebels only ended up antagonising the tribal population while committing human rights violations. It is against this grim historical backdrop that the spectacle of Maoism on its last legs looks impressive. Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday told Parliament that the government had met its March 31, 2026 deadline to weed out Left-wing extremism in the country, underling this administration's tougher, more muscular stance against the insurgent - bullet for bullet. The home minister rightly praised the government's efforts to make infrastructure inroads into regions once deemed impenetrable - erecting mobile phone towers, building roads and markets, and establishing police outposts. But once the Maoists are wiped out, the government will need to redouble its efforts, both on security arrangements and civilian administration. At the heart of the Maoist success was a kernel of discontent among ordinary people who felt abandoned by the administration, especially in moments of tragedy or disaster. A credible and transparent civilian administration with fair elections that ensures the active participation of local communities, must remain high on the agenda of the authorities. This will require a change of gears - from a muscular securitised approach to a softer, more humane, more democratic one. Authorities must stay away from heavy handed operations or building local militias; instead they must bolster law and order. Corruption and apathy - often the bane of civic authorities elsewhere in India - must not be allowed to grow roots. The next phase in the Red Corridor needs a transformative vision....