Andhra sets up state, district level communal harmony committees

Amaravati, Jan 7 : Amid a flood of unverified, alleged temple attack reports, the Andhra Pradesh government has formed state and district level communal harmony committees to initiate confidence building measures and promote religious harmony in the state.
“The main objective of both the state level and district level communal harmony committees is to take up several confidence building measures and send across strong communication that all the communities in the state are together,” Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das said on Thursday.
He specially addressed the media and highlighted that communal harmony is central for the development of the state and the districts, and vowed that the government is committed to take stern action against the perpetrators of crimes against religious harmony.
The state level communal harmony committee will comprise the chief secretary as the chairman, director general of police (vice chairman), and a representative each from the faiths of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and others as members.
Other members in this committee will include principal secretaries from the departments of home, endowments, minority welfare, and other stakeholders.
“The committee will meet from time to time to discuss issues related to communal harmony, spreading the message that all communities in the state are together, striving for the development of the state,” said Das.