AP Constitutes State, District Level Religious Tolerance Committees: CS Aditya Nath Das

VIJAYAWADA: Taking a serious note of the attacks on temples in the State, the Andhra Pradesh Government issued Government Order No 6  on Thursday, for setting up state and district-level religious tolerance committees. The Committees aimed towards curbing attempts to instigate religious hatred and protect the religious sentiments of the people.

Expressing concern over the series of attacks on temples in several parts of the state, Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das on Thursday warned of stern action against such elements and said that there was deeper conspiracy behind these attacks.

Speaking to the media, he said the religious tolerance committees would have no timeframe and will constantly monitor and work towards establishing peace.

State Level Committees

Talking about the Committee members, he said that the Chief Secretary will be the chairman, the DGP as vice chairman and principal secretaries of home, endowments, minorities welfare and representatives from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddha and Jain religions as members.

The General Administration department principal secretary (Political) would serve as its convener.

District Level Committees

The CS said that at the district level, the Collector would be the chairman.

The SP would serve as vice chairman and assistant directors from minorities and endowments departments and representatives from all religions would be members while the joint collector (Rythu Bharosa) would serve as the convener.

Both state-level and district-level committees would meet whenever any breach of religious harmony occurs, in order to initiate measures and curb recurrence of such incidents.

Maintaining that even as the welfare programmes taken up by the state government without political, casteist or religious considerations, the CS expressed doubt that some forces were conspiring and trying to create disturbances in the name of religion aimed at tarnishing the image of the government by destroying idols and diverting public attention. He warned that the government would take stern action against the perpetrators for such acts.