Decentralisation of power was the need of hour and welfare programs envisaged while sitting in "multi-storey buildings" in Delhi cannot solve problems faced by people living in remote areas, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said.
Addressing an award ceremony here, Singh stressed that problems of Naxal-affected areas like Bastar and Dantewada in Chhattisgarh are totally different than the issues faced by people residing in other parts of the country.
"If the welfare programs are designed while sitting in the multi-storey buildings in Delhi, it would not provide a solution to the problems faced by people of areas like Bastar, Dantewada and Bijapur etc because the problems faced by them are totally different," Singh said.
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"The main thing is how we want to decentralise the power. Whether we want to give the power to 'gram panchayat', blocks, or villages? Because these are units which run the country," he said while speaking at 'Capital Foundation Annual Lecture and Awards Ceremony'.
He said naxal issue in Chhattisgarh was not new and it was not the biggest problem and "ballot and not bullet" would solve the problems faced by people in these areas.
Delivering lecture 'Decentralisation of Constitutional Powers', NITI Aayog's member Bibek Debroy said over a period of time, India has become an "extremely centralised" state in terms of concentration of power and wealth.
Various other dignitaries, including former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) A K Patnaik, were also present on the occasion were various persons were conferred with awards for their contribution to public welfare.
