Arms deals to be transparent: Pallam Raju

Kakinada,Nov 10: The government will take all measures to make the purchase and procurement of Arms more transparent,stated Union Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju.The Minister told newsmen on Tuesday that in view of the controversies surrounding the purchase of Arms,the Defence Ministry will take efforts to make all Arms deals in a more transparent way.The indigenously designed Indian anti-aircraft missile has entered the advanced stages of development,he felt."When the indigenous missile system goes into production, it will replace the Russian make missile currently being used by the Indian forces," he indicated.The government has proposed to construct a mini fishing harbour-cum-jetty at Uppada village to provide an exclusive harbour/jetty facility for about 7,000 fishermen of U Kotthapalli mandal,who are currently using a berth at Kakinada port.

The mini fishing harbour-cum-jetty will be constructed at a cost Rs 56 crore,he added.The Polavaram project would soon get the national project status,as all the MPs from Andhra Pradesh were unitedly striving for the same.We have taken up the matter with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.We are confident that the Centre would soon declare Polavaram as a national project.Once declared as a national project,funding would be looked after by the Centre,he added.He made it clear that the Army would not be used against Naxalites elimination drive in Maoist-infested states.The Centre is also asking the state governments to take initiatives to strengthen police stations,health centres,schools,public distribution system,roads and provide security to contractors so that they can carry out normal works,he added.