Rajnath vows more forces, RAF for AP

Vijayawada: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh promised that the Centre would seriously consider the request of the Andhra Pradesh government for setting up of Greyhounds training centre in the State and send more CRPF personnel to the State after completion of the Assembly elections in five States.

Stating that the Centre was ready to sanction Rapid Action Force (RAF) unit to the State to meet its requirements, Rajnath Singh said it was the responsibility of the State government to allot suitable land for the unit.

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Highlights:

• Says the Central will positively consider request by the State for setting up of Greyhounds
• Lays the stone for NDRF 10th battalion headquarters at Gannavaramtraining
  centre in State
• States the Centre knows the loss caused to AP after the bifurcation and promises to help it in all spheres

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He assured the AP government of all kinds of assistance in view of the loss suffered by the State due to bifurcation.

The Union Home Minister made these assurances while addressing a gathering after laying foundation stone for construction of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 10th battalion headquarters at Kondapavuluri village of Gannavaram mandal in Krishna district on Monday.

The State government had allotted 50 acres for the NDRF headquarters which was earlier located near Mangalagiri in Guntur district.

Rajnath Singh, along with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, participated in the foundation laying programme. The battalion headquarters will be constructed at a cost of Rs 120 crore.

Later, addressing the gathering, the Home Minister said the Union Government would seriously considers the request made by Andhra Pradesh government for setting up Greyhounds training Centre in the State.

He said the AP government and the Centre were working in co-ordination for setting up institutions like NDRF and RAF and added that the Union government understands the loss suffered by Andhra Pradesh due to bifurcation of the State and would render assistance to the State in all spheres.

Praising the services of NDRF in India and other countries like Nepal and Japan, the Home Minister said within a short span of 10 years of its formation the NDRF won the confidence of the nation by successfully taking part in rescue and relief operations in many parts of India during the natural calamities.

He said while cyclones killed thousands in Odisha in the past but only 49 people lost their lives in 2014 during the cyclone disaster due to precautionary measures taken by government as well as the efforts of the NDRF teams.

He, however, underlined the need to strengthen of NDRF and development of infrastructure facilities to face disasters in the country.

“Disaster response forces should be more responsive, effective and active,” he felt and added that plans were also on the cards to make NDRF a pro-active and pre-emptive force to meet the future needs of the country.

“We are proud of your bravery, dedication and services to the nation,” said the Home Minister about the NDRF personnel. NDRF teams were the first to reach in Nepal when powerful earthquake jolted the country by killing 10,000 people, he added.

Earlier, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu explained the condition of Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation of the State and requested the Home Minister to set up Greyhounds training centre and RAF team in the State to face the challenges from the Leftwing extremism.

Union Minister for Science and Technology Y Sujana Chowdary, State Minister for Water Resources Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana, NDRF Director General Pachananda and officials, staff present on the occasion.