PM pays brief visit to Gujarat Congress headquarters

Ahmedabad, 29 October 2013

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today visited Gujarat Congress headquarters where he asked party men to send suggestions that can be included in election manifesto. Dr. Singh expressed confidence that after UPA-3 will also come to power after the next elections.

A delegation of parents of missing children and fishermen met Prime Minister to make representation on their problems. A delegation of fishermen asked PM to ensure that they get their fellow brothers back from Pakistan jail with their boats.

State Congress leaders gave Dr. Singh a memorandum on the issues of Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam, Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor, Crop insurance relief, land for IIT, Vadodara-Mumbai express way and Bhavnagar-Somnath-Porbandar national highway.

Memorandum submitted to PM

29th October, 2013
To,
Respected Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Hon’ble Prime Minister of Inida,
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi-110 001.
Respected Sir,We, the Gujarat Congress, on behalf of people of Gujarat welcome you at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, Ahmedabad. Through this memorandum we wish to draw your attention to some of issues pertaining to development of Gujarat and seek your help for speedy solution of these problems:

(1)Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam: we, people of Gujarat are very much thankful to you for intervening in the matter in Supreme Court in 2006, and gave assurance to the Supreme Court that your office would take care of all R & R work. Relying on your submission Supreme Court has allowed the raising the height of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam up to 121.91 mtr.Now R & R work in Maharashtra is almost completed. Madhya Pradesh has some issues to complete R & R works.

Various sub groups have given clearance to go ahead for raising the height of the Dam from seal level to top level i.e. 138 Meter Height by installing steel gates & if any minor R & R works remains to do, if would be carried out Paripasu.

You are kindly requested to take initiative and ask Madhya Pradesh Government to complete R &R work so that Narmada Control Authority can give sanction for the raising of height up to final level.

You are also requested to impress upon the state of Gujarat to expedite the canal network. In 20 years, Gujarat Government has completed only 23,000 km canal network out of 85,000 km total canal network.

(2)Release of Boats & Fisherman from Pakistan captivity & revised the package for victim boat owners.

While fishing in border area, fishermen of Gujarat get into Pakistan water by mistake. Pakistan marine security agency captures boats & fisherman. India too retaliates and captures boats and fisherman though at smaller scale. At the behest of Pakistan Supreme Court, both countries released fishermen. But Pakistan has not agreed to release boats. As on today around 784 boats are in Pakistan captivity. You are kindly requested to take up with Pakistan the issue of release of boats.

Boat owners are bankrupt and are hand to mouth. To help these boat owners, you took the initiative and announced a package in year 2006 for 326 boat owners. Unfortunately boat owners were not able to avail it in time as terms and conditions of the package were quite unviable and impractical. And now the package deadline is over.

Sir, We have requested you to revise the package for the boat owners who have not availed benefit of package. Copy of representation is attached herewith as Annexure-A. Kindly issue necessary instructions for the reintroduction of the revised package so that poor fishermen get much needed relief.

(3)Completion of Delhi-Mumbai Dedicated Freight Corridor: We are very much thankful to you for sanctioning Delhi-Mumbai 1442 km long dedicated freight corridor. 40% length of this double line railway corridor passes through Gujarat State. We are also thankful to you for sanctioning special investment region (SIR) along side the DFC. You are kindly requested to help expedition of the work of DFC so to accelerate the overall development of the state in general and railway network in particular.

(4)Instruction to the State government to give compensation to farmers affected by heavy rain.

Due to heavy rain in last month, crops of farmers in various districts have been badly damaged. Central Government has liberally provided grant for “State disaster relief fund” SDRF. Now under this fund more than Rs.2400 crores is available.

Unfortunately state government is not incurring expenditure to provide relief to farmers. You are kindly requested to direct state government to announce package for relief to affected farmers with immediate effect.

(5) Land for IIT: we are very much thankful to you for establishing Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Gandhinagar in 2008.

Government of Gujarat is providing land to big industrialists/builders at throw away prices like Rs.1/mtr. They have been given land in a short time like three months while request for land for the IIT is pending even five years of setting up of the IIT.

You are kindly requested to direct state government to allot land for IIT and allow construction of new campus of IIT.

(6) Completion of Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway and sanction of Bhavnagar-Somnath-Porbandar-Dwarka Road development project by NHAI.

Above two roads are very much important road projects of Gujarat. You are kindly requested to direct NHAI to expedite the above mentioned works.

(7)Not allotment of land by state government for Airports is stalling the Airport development projects: For the development of the airports, states have to provide land. Except Ahmedabad & Vadodara all other airports are making losses. Other state governments are providing land free of cost for development of airports, while Gujarat state is demanding market rate from AAI. Hence airports of other states are developing fast. Gujarat state’s airport development projects are held up without allotment of land. It is unfortunate that, state government is providing land to builders & industrialists at Rs.1/mtr, but for central government projects Modi government is asking for market rate.

For Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Surat and Ahmedabad AAI is consistently requesting for land, but state government is not providing it. Hence, sanctioned projects have been stalled.

You are kindly requested to direct state government to provide land for Airport development of the state in national interest.

Thanking you, with kind regards,

Encl: As Above.

Yours sincerely,
(Shankersinh Vaghela)
(Arjun Modhwadia)