 | « Back to article | Print this article |
The Gujarat government on Saturday issued an apology, for the remarks made by the Surat civic chief on migrants, during her visit to one of the slums in the city.
Surat Municipal Commissioner S Aparna, during her visit to a slum area in the city on Friday, told migrant workers to shift back to their native place if the cities they had come from provided better civic amenities than Surat.
One of the migrants in Sanjaynagar locality had an argument with her, saying that even cities in the states they have come from have better civic amenities than Surat. Reacting to the argument, Aparna had said, "Nobody is stopping you from going back to your cities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. But does any municipal commissioner in your cities visit slum areas to find out about the condition of the people? So you should not make such comments".
The migrant workers, who come in large numbers to the state to work in textile and other industries, had demanded that Aparna apologise for her remarks.
The state government, in a statement issued on Saturday night, expressed regret on the remarks made by Aparna.
"Gujarat welcomes people from all over the country. The government of Gujarat is committed to providing civic amenities to the people who come here for jobs," Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel said in the statement. He said that he had talked to the Surat municipal commissioner and she has also expressed regret about her comments.