GoM has no locus standi in R

Ahmedabad, Apr 13 (UNI) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said the Group of Ministers (GoM) has no locus standi in 'non-implementation' of Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) of Project Affected Persons (PAPs) of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP).

In a letter to Union Water Resource Minister Saifuddin Soz, he has asked to settle the dispute through Grievance Redressal Authorities (GRAs) in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Appreciating the Union Government's concern for R&R, he said, ''The GoM is not consistent with the established procedure under which all grievances related to R&R should have been referred to GRAs, established for each state. As such, legally, GoM has no locus standi in the matter.'' As to Mr Soz's visit to Madhya Pradesh along with two other Union Ministers, Mr Modi said: ''I am of the view that such visits are too short to bring out the ground realities.'' ''I also understand that there was no systematic presentation of the greivances from the PAPs, but a handful of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists kept on following the convoy and did not allow genuine PAPs have a meaningful dialogue with the team of Union Ministers,'' Mr Modi said.

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