Bhubaneswar, Jul 10 (IANS): The Odisha government has approved the removal of five districts from the list of Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected areas, DGP Abhay said on Friday.

"The Odisha government has approved the removal of districts of Angul, Boudh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, and Nayagarh from Maoist-affected SRE districts. This recognises an improved security situation in these districts. The state police is committed to make the whole of Odisha LWE-free," tweeted the DGP.

He said that in the last few years, no Maoist violence was reported in these districts and there was progressive improvement in the overall security situation.

In 2018, six districts were removed from the list -- Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal, and Jajpur. These were removed from the central government sponsored Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme.

DGP Abhay said that Odisha police has performed well in handling the Maoist situation in the state and several development activities are going on in the affected areas.

He said that surrender of Maoists had increased in the state. In 2019, 13 Maoists had surrendered as against 17 this year.

"I appeal the Maoists to surrender with their arms and join the mainstream. Odisha government has announced a rehabilitation policy for them to avail of benefits under the scheme," he added.

Ten districts - Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Sundergarh, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bargarh and Bolangir -- are still under the influence of the LWE.