M A I N   N E W S

Lay down arms, come for talks, asserts PM
Satish Misra and Ehsan Fazili
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 27
Promising “maximum help” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for consolidating recent gains, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said the Centre would intensify efforts to advance the dialogue process with those who rejected militancy and extreme positions. Delivering his inaugural address at the two-day Inter-State Council meeting here this afternoon, the Prime Minister said the Centre was keen to play a constructive role for taking Jammu and Kashmir on the high road to peace and rapid development.

Highlighting the importance of the meeting being held here, Mr Vajpayee said the meeting of the country’s apex forum of cooperative federalism in Srinagar was yet another clear message that the situation in the state was changing. “It also demonstrates the firm commitment of the Centre and all other states to stand by our brethren in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said.

Setting all doubts on the future of the Inter-State Council, at rest, Mr Vajpayee, in tandem with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, charted out a new course for the council, saying its task and reach should be widened, with provisions for adequate manpower and funds at its disposal.

Earlier, in his introductory remarks, Mr Advani asked the state and the Central ministries to use the forum of the council for sorting out bilateral and multilateral issues hampering efficient and good governance at the Centre and the states.

“It is high time that emerging issues are resolved by applying the collective wisdom of the political leadership of the nation in this forum”, Mr Advani said.

Saying that the machinery of the Inter-State Council Secretariat should be used for effective consultation among states, Mr Vajpayee said there was need for good governance in the country.

Elaborating on the principles of good governance, Mr Vajpayee said it needed a comprehensive legal framework, defended and enforced by an impartial and competent Judicial system. An accountable, open and transparent executive decision-making apparatus, coupled with a capable, efficient and people-friendly bureaucracy, was the need of the hour, he said. He added that last, but not the least strong civil society participation was a must for good governance.

Pointing out to the shortcomings in the present government system, Mr Vajpayee said the evaluation of our policy and programmes was often expenditure-based and was not sufficiently based on quantitative and qualitative outputs.

“This must change”, he said. He pointed out that the people were demanding a higher level of performance by the governments they elected. “Therefore, I will like the Inter-State Council Secretariat to focus on monitoring the implementation of the action plan on good governance.

The Deputy Prime Minister drew the attention of the gathering towards the country’s long battle against terrorism, saying this unconventional warfare was not merely a border problem or a law and order issue, not only was the territorial sovereignty of our nation was under threat, but the dimensions of economic devastation unleashed by the terror machine had affected our economic growth.

“The new war was unfortunately violent and the country had had enough taste of it, Mr Advani said. He asked the state to face the multifarious challenges of terror with solidarity and fortitude.

Making a fervent appeal, Mr Advani exhorted the states to make use of the council in the campaign against terrorism. He said the council might aim to provide citizens with cost-effective and efficient services in transport, land records, education and civil supplies sectors in the first instance. The shape of India’s future would be determined by the success of the country’s pluralistic and democratic society in destroying the ideology of bigotry and hate, which drove terrorism, he said.

In his welcome speech, the Secretary of the Inter-State Council Secretariat, Mr Ashok K. Rastogi, said since the council was about to take a final view of the Sarkaria Commission, it would be worthwhile to make optimum use of this apex institution of cooperative federalism to sort out most of those problems which were coming in the way of our development activities, both at the Centre and in the states.

Agencies add: Mr Vajpayee said on the basis of consensus in the previous meetings, instructions had been issued to Union ministers and departments, requesting them to consult state governments, except in emergency cases, on any legislation on matters in the concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

Earlier, the Prime Minister arrived here this afternoon to inaugurate the Inter-State Council meeting.

Accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister, he was received at the airport by Jammu and Kashmir Governor S.K. Sinha, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Defence Minister George Fernandes.

Union Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma arrived here with the Prime Minister.

Others who arrived today included Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The Administrator of Chandigarh, Justice O.P. Verma also the Governor of Punjab, and Lt-Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands N.N. Jha also arrived here today.