No intention of scrapping Art. 371, Shah assures NE on 34th Arunachal statehood day

Itanagar, Feb. 20 (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday dismissed as “misinformation” the talk of the repeal of Article 371 of the Constitution, as he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting the unique culture of the Northeast.

Most states that have special provisions under Article 371 are in the Northeast. These provisions are aimed at preserving their cultural heritage and customary laws.

Addressing a gathering to mark the 34th foundation day of Arunachal Pradesh, Shah said the Northeast was only geographically united with the rest of India before 2014 when Narendra Modi assumed the office of the prime minister.

“The real emotional integration of the region with the rest of the country happened only under the Modi government,” he said.

Shah said, “Misinformation was spread after the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, that Article 371 will also be scrapped. It will never happen. Nobody has any such intention.”

Referring to the problems of militancy and inter-state boundary disputes in the region, the home minister said the Modi government was committed to their resolution.

“The government has already started negotiations with various militant organisations to restore peace in the region.

It recently inked the Bodo Peace Accord, besides resolving the Bru-Reang issue and ending the indefinite blockade in Manipur.

“When we come to seek your votes in 2024, the Northeast will have been free from problems like militancy and inter-state strife,” he said.

Underlining the prime minister’s commitment to the development of the Northeast, the minister said, Narendra Modi visited the region 30 times in five years, six times a year.

He said while only INR 89,168 crore was allocated to the region by the 13th Finance Commission when the UPA was in power, it shot up to INR 3,13,374 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission after the NDA assumed office.

Under the Northeast Council (NEC), a total of 474 new projects have been sanctioned for the region, apart from national highway projects worth INR 32,000 crore. By 2024, all state capitals in the region will have road and air connectivity, he said.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Union home minister claimed, only INR 47,000 crore was spent on road construction in 25 years, while INR 50,000 crore was expended in the last five years alone.

The NDA government has taken up the ambitious project of building the 2,000 KM Arunachal Frontier Highway, besides undertaking a survey of three new railway lines. The government also proposed to set up an IIT at an estimated cost of INR 400 crore, he said.

He praised Chief Minister Pema Khandu for giving a corruption-free and development-oriented government.

“The young chief minister is taking forward the dream of Prime Minister Modi of a New India”.

He also appreciated the patriotic spirit of the people of the state that borders China.

“In some places people great each other with ‘namaste’, in some others with ‘Ram Ram’. In Gujarat, they say ‘kem cho’. It is only in Arunachal that people greet each other with ‘Jai Hind’. There cannot be a better example of a patriotic spirit,” he said.

Shah, who also unveiled Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment Policy at the function, said the initiative will give added impetus to the prime minister’s goal of turning India into a 5 trillion dollar economy.

According to government sources, the policy will also incentivise outside investors.

The Union minister also inaugurated with remote control a two-lane road project, newly constructed MLA apartments and a housing project for senior officers.

He laid the foundation stone of state police headquarters building and flagged off 148 sanitation vehicles for the urban areas of the state.

Khandu urges Shah to create separate IAS cadre for Arunachal

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday pleaded with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to work out modalities for creation of separate Indian Administrative Service cadre for the state to ensure its speedy development.

At present, civil service officers working in the state are from the AGMUT cadre – a common cadre for Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories.

Addressing a Statehood Day programme here in presence of Shah, Khandu pointed out that despite 33 years of statehood, Arunachal Pradesh is deprived of having its own cadre of civil services officers.

“We want a dedicated team of administrative officers.

It will help the state realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a New India,” Khandu said.

The chief minister said posting of non-permanent IAS and IPS officers at higher bureaucracy in the state causes institutional memory loss that slows down the pace of development.

“The state government has time and again placed demands before the Centre for creating a separate cadre of IAS and IPS officers for Arunachal Pradesh,” Khandu said.

China objects to Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh; India dismisses claims

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of south Tibet, on Thursday objected to Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit there to attend the Statehood Day, saying it violated Beijing’s “territorial sovereignty and sabotaged political mutual trust”, prompting India to dismiss the claims.

Shah visited Arunachal Pradesh and attended the 34th Statehood Day function and launched a number of projects related to industry and roads.

In New Delhi, when asked about China’s objection to Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India’s consistent position has been that the state is its integral and inalienable part.

Objecting to visit to Arunachal Pradesh by an Indian leader does not stand to reason, he said.

China routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its claims over it.

“China’s position on the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, or the southern part of China’s Tibet region, is consistent and clear,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told an online media briefing here on Thursday while replying to a question on Shah’s visit.

“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ and is firmly opposed to the Indian politician’s visit to the southern part of China’s Tibet region as it violated China’s territorial sovereignty, undermined stability of the border area, sabotaged political mutual trust, and violated relevant bilateral agreement,” he said.

“The Chinese side urges the Indian side to stop taking any action that may further complicate the border issue and take concrete actions to uphold peace and tranquillity of the border area,” he said.

The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of Southern Tibet and the two countries have so far held 22 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the border dispute.

On February 20, Arunachal Pradesh became full state from union territory.