States

BIHAR

Advani, Modi must Quit : Bihar PCC

PATNA : Leaders of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee have demanded immediate dismissal of the Union Home Minister, Mr. Lal Krishna Advani, and the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi. The Congress leaders staged a demonstration at the district headquarters and important places protecting against the Railway and the general budget. They handed over a protest memorandum to the District Magistrate.

According to the Bihar PCC spokesman, Mr. Narendra Modi did not make any effort to contain the communal violence in the state after the Godhra incident but only encouraged the unruly and rampaging fanatics. He even tried to protect the chief minister of Gujarat. Therefore, Narendra Modi and L.K. Advani have no moral right to stay in power and should immediately resign from their posts. We shall continue our agitation against the two untill they are dismissed from their positions, said the PCC spokesman.

The Congress leaders said the Railway and the union Budget were anti-people and added that by increasing the ordinary rail fares and freight charges will have effect on the prices of all commodities.

MADHYA PRADESH

‘Foodgrain as Wages’ Commences

BHOPAL : The Madhya Pradesh Government has announced an innovative Green Card Yojana to use foodgrain as wages to improve degraded forest land, wastelands and the land allotted to the landless people.

The scheme seeks to use foodgrain in the form of wages to enable people to create green in a unique grain for green exchange’ mode. Green cards would enable people to draw the grain from the Government as wages to improve their agricultural land as well as forest and wasteland. The scheme was announced on 14 March by the Chief Minister, Mr. Digvijay Singh, in the Assembly while replying to the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address.

In the first phase green cards would be given to the landless’ scheduled tribe and scheduled caste families who have recently been allotted land by the Government as part of a special campaign to ensure that all SC/ST families in the State are provided land.

Over one lakh families have already been given land and the distribution work is still in progress. The green cards would help the weaker sections draw upto six quintals of grain and use that as wages to make the newly allotted land cultivable. The first phase of this programme is slated to continue till June this year.

In the second phase, green cards would be allotted to people living below the poverty line in the forest fringe villages. These villagers will be engaged in the greening of degraded forest land. In the third phase the scheme would cover greening of degraded revenue wastelands. The green card scheme addresses the immediate needs of the weaker sections for household-level food security.

Mr. Digvijay Singh has been pleading for the adoption of such a grain for green scheme at the national level along with creation of a grain bank at the village level. The cards will be issued to people below poverty line on the recommendations of the panchayats by the Sub-divisional Officers.

ANDAMAN NICOBAR

Indiraji Statue Waiting To Be Installed

PORT BLAIR : A bronze statue of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which was brought from the mainland for installation at the Indira Point more than two years ago is lying in the open uninstalled.

Indira Point, the southern most tip of the Andaman & Nicobar islands, was earlier known as Pygmalion Point and it was renamed to honour Smt. Indira Gandhi, who was the first Prime Minister of India to this island, according to ANPYC president P.K. Haldar.

Mr. Haldar said the Andaman Nicobar Pradesh Youth Congress organised a pubic meeting at the Great Nicobar on 1 February and strongly condemned this indifferent attitude on the part of the administration and demanded an immediate enquiry and action against these responsible for this lapse. It is also learnt that the administration has prepared fresh estimates and the proposed site for installation has been changed, Mr. Haldar said. He said that the Congress party strongly objects to this move and demand that the statue be installed at the original site so that it is prominently visible from the sea like that of Statue of Liberty erected at New York in the United States.

ANDHRA PRADESH

The Andhra Pradesh Mahila Congress president, Dr. J. Geetha Reddy, felicitating Mrs. Tara Gandhi, grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad on 11 February. The APMC vice-presidents, Mrs. N. Rajyalaxmi and Mrs. Kameshwari are also seen. The function was attended by AP Mahila Congress office-bearers, state NSUI president, ex-ministers and ex-MLAs. Mrs. Tara Gandhi in her message exhorted the Congress men and women to follow the Gandhian path and ideology.