The Hindu : National : Sonia's counsel to task force on naxalite

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 10, 2004

National

National

Sonia's counsel to task force on naxalite

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 9. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today asked the party task force on naxalite violence to hold widespread discussions starting from the village level in order to ensure maximum consultation before suggesting measures to tackle it.

Ms. Gandhi told the task force, which plans to visit the various naxal-affected States, that there should be a mechanism to identify the problems starting from the village and district level, the task force convenor, M. Shashidhar Reddy, said.

Mr. Reddy said the task force would ask party workers in various districts to hold meetings with elected representatives and office-bearers.

It plans to visit Andhra Pradesh from November 28 to 30 to hold discussions with the Chief Minister, the Home Minister, various non-governmental organisations and representatives of the State Government. Later it would visit Jharkhand and Bihar.

Mr. Reddy said the task force would examine the problem both in its social dimension and from the viewpoint of development. For instance, there were problems on account of the Forest Conservation Act since the tribals were not able to access the natural resources.

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

National