Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking his personal intervention for an amicable resolution of border village disputes with Odisha and to hold a bilateral discussion with his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik to lay the broad parameters of the future roadmap to address the border dispute issue between the two states.
Terming the faceoff between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha as unfortunate, In his letter to Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Pradhan said the skirmishes which started in the 20 odd villages in Kotia under Pottangi block of Koraput have now spread to other border villages in Gajapati district. Such disputes pose a threat both to the security and developmental aspirations of people in border villages of both the states.
Exhorting the initiatives by these two states that helped in mitigating the threats arising from Left-Wing Extremism, the Union Minister said the volatile situation arising out of inter-state conflicts on the issue of delimitation of physical boundaries have the potential to derail ongoing developmental initiatives and nullify the peace accrued over the years in these areas.
“I am sure you would appreciate that settling boundary issues are time-consuming and require intense parleys coupled with the involvement of a mature political leadership at the highest levels, based on mutual trust and cooperation between states. There is a need for building an enabling environment to facilitate talks between the states in view of the flared-up situation on the ground,” Dharmendra said.
He requested measures to create a conducive environment for talks between the states with the withdrawal of armed police forces in the disputed villages and cases registered against local representatives and government officials.
- Pradhan suggested Except for essential public utility facilities of rural infrastructure, health, education and basic civic amenities, new structural construction and earth moving activities be put on hold, as these actions have led to the ongoing altercations;
- Bilateral discussions between the Chief Ministers to lay the broad parameters of future roadmap to address the issues
- Joint Working Group level talks at the level of Chief Secretaries/ Development Commissioners of both the States.
