Shocked and saddened by Gopinath Munde's sudden demise: Jairam Ramesh

Former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh expressed shock on the untimely demise of Union Minister Gopinath Munde. Ramesh said, "I am both shocked and saddened and by the sudden demise of Gopinath Mundeji with whom I shared a warm personal relationship although we belonged to different political parties."

Ramesh indicated that the late Union Minister was very supportive of the initiatives taken in the Ministry of Rural Development.

"I had met him recently and he was fully supportive of the initiatives taken earlier in the Ministry of Rural Development including MGNREGA, upgradation of rural roads through PMGSY, Indira Awaas Yojana for migrant labour, Land Acquisition Act, sanitation, development focus in Maoist-affected districts and women's self-help groups," he shared.

Munde had told Ramesh that he would take these initiatives forward and expand on them as well.