By IANS,
Gandhinagar : The Narendra Modi government Wednesday urged President Pratibha Patil to give her assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOCA) bill that would help in its fight against terrorism.
The state cabinet at a meeting here adopted a resolution seeking immediate assent of the president for the bill.
Government spokespersons Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas and Industry Minister Saurabh Patel told mediapersons that the resolution was forwarded to the president for immediate action.
The state assembly passed the bill and sent it to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for presidential nod on April 1, 2003. An amended version incorporating recommendations from then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was sent back for approval on June 19, 2004.
However, the bill has been lying in cold storage, Vyas said.
He said the July 26 serial blasts in Ahmedabad were a grim reminder that growing anti-social and terror activities needed to be checked with an iron hand. Having a strong act like GUJCOCA will help the state police in their fight against terror, he said.