HYDERABAD, 3 June 2004 — The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to resolve the Naxalite issue through a process of dialogue and consultation, while also promising to promote pro-poor and people-friendly policies.
In his address to the inaugural session of the new assembly, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala said that the new government would also follow and implement “pro-poor and people-friendly policies and programs in the larger interests of balanced development of the state, with special thrust on remote and backward areas, with equity and justice.”
However, the governor made no reference either directly or indirectly to the demand for a separate Telangana state. The government also promised to complete all ongoing major irrigation projects in different parts of the state. “Thanks to the monumental neglect of the agriculture and rural sectors, the per capita income of those employed in these sectors have fallen. This is one of the prime reasons for an unprecedented spurt in the extremist (Naxalite) activities.”
