By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday wrote to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking his personal intervention for an amicable resolution of the faceoff between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha in the bordering villages in districts of Koraput and Gajapati.
Pradhan stated that these skirmishes which started in the 20-odd villages in Kotia gram panchayat in Pottangi block of Koraput district have unfortunately now spread to other border villages in Gajapati district. Needless to emphasise, these run-ins fuel inter-State border disputes and is a matter of serious concern. Such disputes pose a threat both to the security as well as developmental aspirations of villagers located in border villages in the States of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Both States have worked for providing connectivity and infrastructure in remote areas, ensured implementation of key development goals and made continuous efforts to improve the ease of living for the common man in the remotest hilly areas of Eastern Ghats.
These developmental initiatives have gone a long way in mitigating t:he threats arising from Leftwing extremism, Pradhan stated. The present volatile situation arising out of inter-state conflicts on the issue of delimitation of physical boundaries is extremely unfortunate and uncalled for. He requested the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister some measures to defuse the situation and create a conducive situation for talks between the two sides.
He suggested retreat of armed police forces in the * disputed villages and immediate withdrawal of cases registered against local representatives and Government officials registered with police in both the States.
Health, education and basic civic amenities, new structural construction and earth moving activities should be put on hold as these activities have led to the ongoing altercations.
Bilateral discussions between the Chief Ministers to lay the broad parameters of future roadmap to address the issues and joint working group-level talks at the level of Chief Secretaries and Development Commissioners of both States should be initiated, Pradhan suggested.
