The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Centre for holistic approach to naxal problem, says YSR

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Centre for holistic approach to naxal problem, says YSR

By Our Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI, SEPT. 20. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, today described as crucial the Chief Ministers' meeting the Union Home Ministry is convening in Hyderabad tomorrow on the naxalite problem.

At a press conference here, Dr. Reddy said the underlying intention of the Central Government was to have a coordinated approach among all the affected States to the "vexed problem". The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, would be presiding over the conclave. While three States would be represented by their Chief Ministers, the rest would be represented either by their Home Ministers or their representatives, he said.

Asked whether Andhra Pradesh, which is coordinating the meeting, would try to impress upon the Union Home Minister to have a uniform policy vis-a- vis the ban on the naxalite outfits, the Chief Minister said it was for the Centre to decide. But the Centre was for a holistic approach to find a lasting solution to the problem, he said.

Steps taken

As far as the State was concerned, Dr. Reddy said, he would take the occasion to explain the steps his Government had taken during the last three months to create a congenial atmosphere for talks with naxalite leaders or their mediators. He would also explain to the meeting the `strategies' adopted by his Government when problems cropped up during that period as the Government was engaged in the preliminary talks with the naxalite leaders. Dr. Reddy was, however, non-committal on the deadlock prevailing in the talks between the Home Minister and naxalite leaders though it is sure dominate the proceedings at the meeting tomorrow. He appeared glad that both the Centre and the State felt that since the naxal problem was essentially a "socio-economic problem", there was no question of finding a lasting solution to it without creating the `social opportunities' needed for the poor and vulnerable sections. About the State CPI (M) general secretary B.V. Raghavulu's criticism that his Government had also started playing into the hands of the World Bank vis-a-vis their conditionalities, YSR said that they were "misplaced apprehensions."

`Voters not ditched'

Dr. Reddy did not agree that his Government had ditched voters on the `one bulb' issue and instead claimed that it was being magnanimous as it benefited 14 lakh families — nearly 10 lakhs more than what the original scheme would otherwise have benefited. The efforts of his Government to `metre' the power supply under the one bulb scheme was to prevent a `system collapse'.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh

News Update

Stories in this Section