Three capital decision historic, says Andhra Governor

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Addressing the 71st Republic Day celebrations at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium, he praised the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government's decision to divide functions of the state capital in different regions by developing Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital.

The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity enshrined in the Constitution demanded that the fruits of socio-economic development reached all and that the government didn't work in favour of a few sections or regions, he said.

"Centralisation and concentration of resources at a particular place or region is against the very ethos of democracy," he said.

The Governor said decentralisation of administration brought people closer to the government and arrested fissiparous and divisive tendencies caused by unequal opportunities and concentration of wealth.

"Development of all regions and sections of people, irrespective of caste, region, religion and party affiliation was the electoral promise of the Chief Minister's party and it's firmly moving ahead in the direction," he said.

The government was poised to march ahead on the path of inclusive growth and integrated development through decentralisation of administration, he said.

The Governor, who earlier reviewed the colourful parade, said the welfare of all sections of the people was the government's top most priority. The government also recognised the importance of maintaining high economic growth as an imperative for sustained development, he added.

Besides continuing the focus on agriculture, industries and services sectors, the government was committed to giving special thrust to all key sub-sectors to push growth, the Governor said.

The government would go ahead with Navaratnalu, an integrated scheme with themes covering agriculture, health, education, housing and welfare, as it was committed to uplift the downtrodden and the deprived, with corruption-free and inclusive governance, he added.

Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, his cabinet colleagues and top officials attended the function.