President's rule in Andhra Pradesh: Governor says peace, order top on priority

With President's rule being imposed in Andhra Pradesh, Governor E S L Narasimhan today asserted that maintenance of public peace and order would be top priority for him. He said that normal life would go on as usual when President's rule is in force and investor confidence will be held high. "My topmost priority would be maintenance of public peace and order... everything else follows on if there is peace and order," he told reporters in his maiden press conference here, a day after President's rule was imposed.

He said all the development programmes would be carried on uninterrupted and the bureaucracy is expected to ensure that the fruits of development reach the last man. He also plans to undertake visits to the districts. 

The investor confidence would be maintained at a high level to ensure that Andhra Pradesh remains a favourite destination for investments, the Governor said. "In the last four years, questions that have been raised by anybody who came to meet me was 'Sir, how safe it is to invest in Andhra Pradesh?'. 'Will the state be bifurcated or not?' This one question has been raised again and again. 

Now that the event has happened, we know exactly what is in store for us. "I think we will ensure that investor confidence is maintained high. Unless the investments come, our development is going to suffer. We would like to keep the investor confidence at a very, very high level. We will be talking to investors also and tell them that Andhra Pradesh is a very secure destination for investments. This is actually a 'Swarnabhoomi'," he said. 

Replying to a query, he said 15 sub-committees have been formed to go into various aspects of state's bifurcation and those panels would coordinate with the committees set up at the Central level. There would be an apex committee and he would go into all aspects and try to satisfy the aspirations of the people, Narasimhan said.

Asked if he would conduct any 'Janata Darbar' to listen to the grievances of the people, he said he would consider the idea. 

Replying to a question about the extension given to Chief Secretary P K Mohanty, to which some senior bureaucrats reportedly took exception, he said various aspects have been taken into consideration in the decision to give extension of tenure to the CS.

Observing that education, particularly higher education, would be a focus area for him, he said steps would be taken to ensure that quality of education is maintained and quality manpower is turned out. Health care, especially provision of medical care in rural areas by equipping government hospitals, would be another focus area, he said. He stressed on making health care affordable to the people, saying if possible uniform charges would be maintained across the state so that people know how much to spend.

Agriculture, the mainstay of state's economy, would get due attention, the Governor said.