Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

PW not serious about talks, says Goud

By Our Staff Reporter

Anaparthy (E. Godavari dt.) July 11. The Home Minister, T. Devender Goud, said that there is lack of seriousness among the PW leadership in its discussions with the Government. Their goal, as revealed by the documents seized from them, seemed to be to propagate their agenda and make use of the period of talks to strengthen themselves. So far, the PW had not given a hint of what they want but continued to indulge in their activities like moving with arms, intimidating people, extorting money and creating panic among the public which resulted in encounters, the Home Minister observed.

The Home Minister participated in a number of welfare activities in the Anaparthy Assembly segment in East Godavari district and spoke to presspersons on Thursday. On the possibility of talks scheduled for July 20 in view of the latest developments and call by the PW for bandh on July 11 and 12, the Home Minister said that it was the PW leadership which had initiated the process of talks. It was because of this initiative that the Government had agreed to hold talks even though the PW was a banned organisation. Even now the Government is ready for talks directly with the PW leadership, he said.

The Home Minister also recalled how right from the beginning, the Government preferred direct talks with the PW, but it was the PW which had named Gaddar and Varavara Rao as their emissaries for finalising `vidhi vidhaanaalu' for direct talks.

Now even Gaddar and Varavara Rao announced that their job was over, Mr Goud pointed out, implying that now the stage was set for direct talks with the PW. On the continued encounters, the Minister asserted that the Government had a duty to maintain law and order and protect the life and property of the people.

The Government was aware of their ideology but had agreed for talks with a view to finding a permanent solution to the problem. The TDP Government had, to a large extent, controlled other major law and order problems like factionalism and rowdyism, but the extremist problem remained unsolved. "If the PW leadership has proposals to solve the problems of people, the Government is ready to consider the proposals, but so far they had not come out with any proposals,'' the Minister said, adding "till to date we have not been told what, in their view, the problem is." The entire world had been following a particular path, if the PW wanted to follow a different path it is their will, the Home Minister observed.

Answering questions, Mr Devender Goud said that the police in the State is being modernised to meet new challenges. The stress is on improving the quality and human resources. The concentration would be on training and improving communication and other facilities, he said. The Centre had given a grant of Rs. 75 crores for modernising the police in the State and the latter had released the same amount as matching grant.

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

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• PW bandh evokes poor response
• Woman kills three kids, self
• PW not serious about talks, says Goud
• Armed Reserve SI shoots self to death
• `Naidu should brush up his history'

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu