New Delhi: Describing recent incidents of racial violence involving people from North East as extremely distressing, President Pranab Mukherjee has called for urgent steps to assuage feelings of the people of the region.
Addressing the two-day 45th conference of Governors which concluded on Friday, Mukherjee termed as "extremely distressing" the recent incidents of racial violence, including the death of Arunachal Pradesh youth Nido Taniam following an alleged attack by a group of people here.
"The President called for expeditious measures to assuage feelings of the people of North East," a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said.
Reminding the Governors that they are the first citizens of their states, the President said the Constitution provides them enough space to act in the best interests of both the Centre and the states.
Mukherjee said the Governor draw their authority from the Constitution and are oath-bound to protect, preserve and defend the Constitution and work towards the welfare of the people of their states.
While the Central Government should extend support to Governors by consulting them on critical issues relating to the states and by providing easy access to key ministries, the President said the Governors should use their persuasive skills to build consensus with state governments on issues relating to the welfare of the people of the states.
Mukherjee said the Ministry of the HRD should examine issues related to the role of Governors as Chancellors or Rectors of state universities in consultation with UGC.
It should also keep the Governors fully informed of various schemes launched by it.
Pointing out that Governors from states and UTs with international borders emphasised the urgent need for speeding up the building of border infrastructure, the President called upon authorities concerned to take necessary measures in this regard, including through the establishment of coordination mechanisms.
Governors and Lieutenant Governors apprised the conference of the situation in their respective states or Union Territories and important issues of concern.
They made a number of suggestions on how coordination between the Centre and states can be improved, security strengthened and development activities speeded up," the spokesperson said.
The agenda of the two-day conference was -- external and internal security environment, development issues in scheduled areas and North Eastern region, improving the quality of higher education and making disaster management more effective.
Reports were presented by different groups of Governors on topics such as the Role of Governors as a bridge between States and Centre, areas under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution; role of Governors as Chancellors of educational institutions in improving the quality of higher education.
Union Ministers of Defence, Finance, Home Affairs, External Affairs, Law and Justice, Tribal Affairs, Human Resource Development, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman and Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region addressed the conference and participated in the discussions.
Besides the President, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manomhan Singh addressed the concluding session.
The conference was attended by 26 Governors and three Lieutenant Governors.
