President's Visit to Mumbai Concluding Ceremony of the Birth Centenary of Shri Vasantrao Naik Former Chief Minister of Maharas
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
President’s visit to Mumbai Concluding Ceremony of the Birth Centenary of Shri Vasantrao Naik Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra July 01, 2013 MEDIA COVERAGE REPORT PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING MUMBAI . Central aid to states should be flexible: President Pranab Mukherjee Central assistance to any state should have flexibility to address special problems that it might be facing, President Pranab Mukherjee said here today. At a function to mark birth centenary celebrations of late V P Naik in the backdrop of severe drought faced by the state this year, he recalled the former Chief Minister's speech at the National Development Council where he had opposed any formula-based approach for extending central aid to states. "For the first time the concept of a formula-based central planned assistance to states was formulated at the time of fourth five-year plan which is known as Gadgil Formula. "And during formulation of Gadgil Formula, Shri Naik made a speech at National Development Council. He pointed out that there should be adequate flexibility," he said. Mukherjee said, "a straitjacket formula for central assistance to states may not always take care of special problems which the states may have. And surely many of us who are in the process of formulation and execution of the plan feel that lack of flexibility is not desirable." Mukherjee said his first meeting with Naik took place when he was Minister of State for Banking and Finance in relation with the establishment of Regional Rural Banks and for providing institutional credits to farmers in rural areas. The President said he was struck by Naik's knowledge of the conditions in rural India and plight of farmers. Mukherjee said Naik provided "political and economic stability" in the state at a time of financial turbulence as there was severe crunch of resources in the country. The President said Shri Naik launched the revolutionary Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which proved to be a boon for millions of farmers ravaged by two major famines in the state. The Planning Commission later approved the scheme and the same was adopted on national scale and the programme is today known as MNREGA, he said. Central aid to states should be flexible: Prez Central assistance to any state should have flexibility to address special problems that it might be facing, President Pranab Mukherjee said here today. At a function to mark birth centenary celebrations of late V P Naik in the backdrop of severe drought faced by the state this year, he recalled the former Chief Minister's speech at the National Development Council where he had opposed any formula-based approach for extending central aid to states. "For the first time the concept of a formula-based central planned assistance to states was formulated at the time of fourth five-year plan which is known as Gadgil Formula. "And during formulation of Gadgil Formula, Shri Naik made a speech at National Development Council. He pointed out that there should be adequate flexibility," he said. Mukherjee said, "a straitjacket formula for central assistance to states may not always take care of special problems which the states may have. And surely many of us who are in the process of formulation and execution of the plan feel that lack of flexibility is not desirable." Mukherjee said his first meeting with Naik took place when he was Minister of State for Banking and Finance in relation with the establishment of Regional Rural Banks and for providing institutional credits to farmers in rural areas. The President said he was struck by Naik's knowledge of the conditions in rural India and plight of farmers. President attends the concluding ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of late Shri Vasantrao Naik Report by India Education bureau, Mumbai: President Pranab Mukherjee attended the concluding ceremony of the Birth Centenary Celebrations of Late Shri Vasantrao Naik, former Chief Minister today (July 1, 2013) at Mumbai. Speaking on the occasion, the President said it gave him immense pleasure to participate in the concluding ceremony of the Birth Centenary Celebrations of Late Shri Vasantrao Naik. Under Shri Naik’s leadership, Maharashtra witnessed stable one-party government from 1965 to 1975. It must be noted that this was a period of great turbulence at the national level. The President said he met Mr. Naik first when he was Minister of state for Banking and Finance. He held number of discussions with Shri Naik at that time on the establishment of Regional Rural Banks and for providing institutional credits to farmers in the rural areas. He was struck by Shri Naik`s knowledge of the conditions in rural India and the situation of the farmers. Shri Naik`s tenure as a Chief Minister of Maharashtra is important not only for the length of tenure but also because he provided economic and political stability in state when the rest of country was passing through instability. Shri Naik was a distinguished son of India who made immense contribution not only to Maharashtra but also to the rest of country. The President said Shri Naik launched the revolutionary Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which proved to be a boon for millions of farmers ravaged by two ferocious famines afflicting the state. The Planning Commission later approved the scheme and the same was adopted on national scale. This is the programme known today as MNREGA. Receiving the first copy of ‘Chaturasra’, the President said that he is happy that Shri Naik’s selected speeches are being brought out as a book on this occasion. It’s contents brings out in colorful detail his overall personality and his approach to the daunting problems of Maharashtra. He expressed the hope that the volume would encourage students of political science to undertake serious research on Shri Naik’s role in the shaping of modern Maharashtra. He also said that translating the book into English would be of help to scholars outside Maharashtra who can learn about the life and thoughts of Shri Naik. President Mukherje pays tribute to former Maharashtra CM Vasantrao Naik Mumbai, July 1 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee, who today attended the concluding ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of former Maharashtra Chief Minister late Vasantrao Naik, said the latter launched the revolutionary Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which proved to be a boon for millions of farmers ravaged by two ferocious famines afflicting the state. “The Planning Commission later approved the scheme and the same was adopted on national scale. This is the programme known today as MNREGA,” he said, while speaking on the occassion. President Mukherjee said Maharashtra witnessed stable one-party government from 1965 to 1975 under Naik’s leadership. “It must be noted that this was a period of great turbulence at the national level,” he added. President Mukherjee further recalled his meeting with Naik, and said that he first met him when he was Minister of state for Banking and Finance. He said Naik’s tenure as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is important not only for the length of tenure, but also because he provided economic and political stability to the state when the rest of country was passing through instability. “Naik was a distinguished son of India who made immense contribution not only to Maharashtra, but also to the rest of country,” he said. Receiving the first copy of ‘Chaturasra’, President Mukherjee said that he is happy that Naik’s selected speeches are being brought out as a book on this occasion. “Its contents bring out in colorful detail his overall personality and his approach to the daunting problems of Maharashtra,” he said. President Mukherjee expressed the hope that the volume would encourage students of political science to undertake serious research on Shri Naik’s role in the shaping of modern Maharashtra. He also said that translating the book into English would be of help to scholars outside Maharashtra who can learn about the life and thoughts of Naik. (ANI) Central aid to states should be flexible: President Mumbai: Central assistance to any state should have flexibility to address special problems that it might be facing, President Pranab Mukherjee said in Mumbai on Monday. At a function to mark birth centenary celebrations of late VP Naik in the backdrop of severe drought faced by the state in 2013, he recalled the former Chief Minister's speech at the National Development Council where he had opposed any formula- based approach for extending central aid to states. "For the first time the concept of a formula-based central planned assistance to states was formulated at the time of fourth five-year plan which is known as Gadgil Formula. And during formulation of Gadgil Formula, Shri Naik made a speech at National Development Council. He pointed out that there should be adequate flexibility," he said. Mukherjee said, "a straitjacket formula for central assistance to states may not always take care of special problems which the states may have. And surely many of us who are in the process of formulation and execution of the plan feel that lack of flexibility is not desirable." Mukherjee said his first meeting with Naik took place when he was Minister of State for Banking and Finance in relation with the establishment of Regional Rural Banks and for providing institutional credits to farmers in rural areas. The President said he was struck by Naik's knowledge of the conditions in rural India and plight of farmers. PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Government of India Pratishtha Bhavan, Maharshi Karve Rd, Marine Lines, Mumbai 022-2206 9413 / Fax 2206 2989 [email protected] www.pibmumbai.gov.in President Shri Pranab Mukherjee concludes the birth Centenary Celebration of Shri Vasantrao Naik Mumbai : July 1,2013 The President Shri Pranab Mukherjee called Shri Vasantrao Naik not only a great son of Maharashtra but also a great son of India and said Shri Vasantrao Naik’s contribution in various fields were not only restricted to the development of Maharashtra but to the whole country.