N Ibungochoubi
Mail News Service
Puducherry, Feb 10: The All India Editors’ Conference on Social Sector Issues organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Ministry of Information And Broadcasting in association with the government of Poducherry was inaugurated today.
The conference participated by over fifty delegates from different part of the country was inaugurated by Jairam Ramesh as the Chief Guest in the presence of, among others, Minister of state for PMO, V Narayanaswamy, Chief Minister N Rangaswamy, Lt Governor Dr Iqbal Singh, principal DG, PIB Neelam Kapoor.
Expressing concern over the Maoist movements in Central India, Minister Jairam Ramesh said that Forces of any strength cannot defeat the Maoist.
The Minister talked of a new philosophy of 3Ps to address the issues confronting the Maoists in central India.
The first being the intensification of political activities to address the day-to-day needs of the people.
The second being people’s concerns that affect their lives and the last being police and para military personnel. He said the combination of the three would check the movements.
The Minister said that the policy of the government is clear and the Union Home minister had invited anyone to talk whether they leave the guns and their ideologies or not.
He said, the Maoist menace can be taken head on by addressing the developmental concerns of the tribals, besides increasing the intensity of political activity. Giving the example of Junglemahal area in West Bengal, where intense political activity has forced the Maoists to take a back seat, the Minister said, people-centric welfare measures and better and sensitive administrative mechanisms are other necessary ways to deal with the naxal challenge, besides resorting to security measures through police and para-military forces. Dwelling in detail on the problems in dealing with Naxal violence, which has taken deep roots in 78 districts of the country, Shri Ramesh said, failure of politics and development were the reasons for the upsurge in violence. He said the centre will be redesigning and restructuring the rural development programmes and will make them more sensitive to the needs of the common man and particularly the tribal community. The Minister said, he is working on the institutionalization of the Concurrent Evaluation Network through the NGOs and research institutes at the Central and State level to get the regular feedback about the implementation of rural development schemes on the ground level. He said, the Ministry has already decided to open all rural schemes to CAG audit to bring about greater accountability and transparency. The Minister said, he is also planning to give more flexibility to the state governments and his target is that by 2017, the states will prioritize about 50 percent of all the rural schemes spending, besides enhancing the importance of neglected sectors like drinking water supply and sanitation.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister V Narayansamy said Poducherry has surpassed states including Kerala in the education sector.
He said, Poducherry is aiming to become education and health hub and tourism destination.
He said, Poducherry is the first state in the country to initiate a unique program of milk for every child besides the breakfast and midday meals for every child.
He also said that 25 kg of rice for everyone and 35 kg for underprivileged per month has been guaranteed.
“For the 13 lakh population and nearby states, Poducherry is an attraction as there are more than seven private medical and eight engineering colleges above the government institutions.
The government is seriously contemplating in establishing a Central Agricultural University and a state University,” Narayanasamy said.
He said that he is pained by the manner in which many of the Central sponsored schemes are implemented by the respective states. “The state has to be accountable and every programme will have to be brought under provision of CAG.”
He also cautioned the non performing bureaucrats and disclosed that the government is seriously considering the periodical review of the performance of IAS cadres, which will have implications on their career. Asking the media to provide valuable suggestions in this regard, he said, the role of the fourth state should not only be confined to criticizing the government, but they should also highlight the positive achievements. Lamenting over the siphoning of funds meant for schemes like health, education and sanitation by the vested interests, the Minister urged the regional media to play a pro-active role in exposing the corrupt.In his address, the Lt Governor of Puducherry Dr Iqbal Singh said, media makes democracy to function in its true spirit by informing the citizens about the developments in society. He said, editorial independence to pursue public interests is an essential facet for the press to lend credible voice for creating informed citizens.
The Chief Minister of Puducherry Shri N.Rangaswamy highlighted the various developmental measures initiated in the state for the welfare of the people. He expressed hope that the two-day deliberations will focus upon constructive schemes and decisions on social infrastructure facilities in a full-fledged manner.
In her address, the Principal D.G of Press Information Bureau, Ms Neelam Kapur said, the conference on Social Sector issues will provide an important opportunity to the representatives of the small and medium newspapers to interact with the policy makers. She said, the UPA government is implementing a large number of social sector programmes spanning various Ministries, which should be highlighted by the media so that the common man can reap their benefits.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/we-cannot-defeat-maoists-by-forces-jairam-ramesh/
