Hyderabad, February 15: Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan today made a fervent plea to legislators to help maintain peace and tranquility in the state.
Delivering his maiden address to the joint session of the state Assembly and the Council, he quoted Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and said, ”without peace, all other dreams will vanish and be reduced to ashes.”
”During the last few months, the state has been going through difficult times, affecting public order, pace of development and image of the state,” he lamented.
”We have every responsibility to ensure peace and tranquility and offer protection to the life and property of the people.
”We have very recently celebrated the completion of the 60th year of our Republic, when we had so fondly recalled great sacrifices of a large number of men and women in the freedom movement, led by the Mahatma, who unflinchingly stood by the principle of non-violence,” he said.
”We must forever conduct our struggle on this high plane of dignity and discipline,” he added.
The Governor, who recalled several crucial events in the last 12 months, including the global economic downturn, which had eroded both economic activity and revenues like never before, said, ”there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The Gross State Domestic Product growth rate, which fell to 5.5 per cent in 2008-09 from 10 per cent per annum in preceding four years, had recovered to 7.5 per cent in 2009-10. ”My Government is fully committed to keep up momentum of growth at any cost,” he asserted.
——-Agencies