The Hindu : Front Page : `Emulate Andhra Pradesh example'

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Sunday, Sep 24, 2006
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`Emulate Andhra Pradesh example'

K.V. Prasad

Prime Minister lauds State for strides made in constructing irrigation projects

NAINITAL: Strides made by Andhra Pradesh in setting up irrigation projects came in for special mention by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who exhorted Congress Chief Ministers to follow the example.

Stating that the United Progressive Alliance Government has set a goal of bringing an additional one crore hectares of land under irrigation, Dr. Singh said: "I am happy that Andhra Pradesh has taken the lead in this matter. Its example is worthy of emulation."

Dr. Singh's remarks came in his inaugural address at the Congress Chief Ministers' conclave here on Saturday.

The Prime Minister said Andhra Pradesh had been most effective in curbing the menace of naxalism and advised other States to send officers to that State for "gaining insight and training."

Two-pronged strategy

In his presentation, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy spelt out the steps taken by his Government in handling the agrarian crisis and internal security, especially tackling the naxalite problem.

He said the State launched a twin-pronged strategy, one operational and another socio-economic. On the operational front, steps included strong intelligence and commando organisations to handle a guerrilla war; surrender and rehabilitation policy; victim reassurance; and perception management.

The focus of operational strategy was to isolate the Maoists and arrest/neutralise them and win over the people by steps such as withdrawal of cases against people in interior villages booked for minor offences like supply of food and shelter to Maoists.

The socio-economic measures included taking up developmental activities so that people in the affected areas develop a vested interest in the system, large sale land distribution, creation of a new Remote and Interior Areas Development to coordinate targeted development, a new programme called `Indiramma' with a concept of saturation in development by focusing on the needs of each and every family in villages. The Chief Minister said if the State gets larger resources from the Centre then it could play a more active role.

As regards the threat from Lashkar-e-Taiba, he said, despite the efforts of a group related to the LeT, which were training gullible local youth to foment communal trouble in the State, the State has maintained excellent communal harmony in the last two years. The LeT leaders, he said, have been talking about the liberation of Hyderabad and Junagadh as their objectives. During the last three years, the police have unearthed eight modules of militant outfits and arrested 87 suspected extremists.

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