The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, February 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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President outlines strategy on J-K
Tribune News Service

President K. R. Narayanan being welcomed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on his arrival to attend the opening day of the Budget session at Parliament House in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI photo

New Delhi, February 25
Asking Islamabad to take positive action on India’s set of demands as a proof of its sincerity before resumption of a bilateral dialogue, President K.R. Narayanan today said the government was ready to talk to any group of people in Jammu and Kashmir who eschew the path of violence and may have legitimate grievances.

Addressing the joint Budget session of Parliament, the President outlined the Centre’s strategy to deal with the internal situation in the state and, at the same time, assured that the people of the state would elect a new legislative Assembly later this year through free and fair elections.

“First, to counter the terrorists with a firm hand...We shall triumph in our mission to root out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir in the same way that we did in Punjab in the last decade. Let no one have any doubts about it.”

The second objective is to support faster economic development of all three regions of the state — Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The third objective is the government’s willingness to talk to any group of people within the state who eschew violence.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi arrives to attend the opening day of the Budget session at Parliament House in New Delhi on Monday.
— PTI photo

“What happened on December 13 was the nadir of a long list of reprehensible acts in a 20-year long campaign of cross-border terrorism against India. It strengthened our resolve to deal decisively and conclusively with this challenge. The investigation into this conspiracy has clearly revealed the hand of terrorist organisations, which have for long operated from Pakistani soil with the support of the ruling establishment of that country. It is now also established that these terror outfits are closely aligned through ideology, inspiration, resources, and logistics to those who carried out the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001”, he said.

Assuring the people of the state free and fair elections this year to elect a legislative Assembly, the President, however, stressed the need to be vigilant against those who had no faith in democracy and subvert people’s aspirations.

He expressed confidence that the forthcoming elections would help return of peace and normalcy in the state and accelerate all-round development.

Mr Narayanan also made it clear that dialogue with Islamabad is possible only if that country took effective steps to end the training, equipping and financing of the terrorists and stop their infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. He also demanded that Pakistan hand over 20 terrorists who have committed grave crimes in India and continue to receive shelter in that country.

Stating that India is prepared for a bilateral dialogue on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, the President said positive action by Islamabad on these demands would be the test of its sincerity to end its hostility towards India.

Giving details of the government’s economic policies, Mr Narayanan said India’s power sector was facing an alarming situation due to unsustainable subsidy to domestic and agricultural consumers and large-scale theft of electricity.

The annual losses of state electricity boards (SEBs) had gone up from Rs 4,560 crore a decade ago to Rs 20,527 crore in 2000-01.

Mr Narayanan said the power sector was at the crossroads today. The country had a persistent peaking shortage of 13 per cent and energy shortage of 7 per cent, coupled with poor quality of supply, low voltage and grid instability.

The new Electricity Bill, introduced in Parliament last year, would make reforms mandatory across all states and it would be incumbent upon the states to set up their own State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.

Despite the slowdown in certain sectors, the economic fundamentals continue to be robust. The advance estimates for the current year “show a pick-up in growth to 5.4 per cent, restoring India to the group of the five fastest growing large economies in the world,” he said.

The President talked of the reform process in various sectors. On petroleum, he said the dismantling of the administered pricing mechanism from April would result in the gradual emergence of a competitive market with minimal intervention, thereby benefiting both the consumers of petroleum products and the petroleum industry.

On the ongoing privatisation, he said, “It is evident that disinvestment in public sector enterprises is no longer a matter of choice, but an imperative.

“The prolonged fiscal haemorrhage from the majority of these enterprises cannot be sustained any longer”, he warned.

He congratulated the farmers for producing a record 210 million tonnes of foodgrains in 2001-02, saying that the government proposed to “respond to the new situation with several measures to free Indian agriculture from the shackles of the past.”

The Essential Commodities Act would be modified. Restrictions on inter-state movement of agricultural commodities would be removed to enable farmers to realise better prices. The sugar industry, which had already begun to benefit from de-licensing, would also be fully decontrolled soon.

The new tourism policy would focus on public-private partnerships to provide infrastructure and tourism services, promote environmental sustainability and develop heritage sites.