Assam CM announces sops to Govt employees

Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, Sept 27 – The State Government today announced a series of sops for the State Government employees and the employees of the state public sector units in view of the ensuing Durga Puja. Addressing a press conference today, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that 14 state PSUs, which have been closed down, had liabilities amounting to Rs 364 crore for payment of VRS and CPF money to the employees and the Government has already released an amount of Rs 143 crore and the balance amount would be released before the ensuing Durga puja. This would benefit around five thousand employees of the PSUs.

Gogoi said that the Government has decided to increase the festival allowance to the fourth grade employees to Rs 1600, while, the remuneration to the angandabi workers and helpers has been increased by Rs 300 and Rs 200 respectively with effect from April 1. The Government is also planning to arrange funds to the Assam Tea Corporation to enable it to clear the liabilities, he added.

Gogoi said that the present Government has been able to bring about financial discipline and reduced Government expenditure by Rs 350 crore a year. He revealed that around 2.40 lakh farmers have been benefited from the step taken by the Government to waive loans and the banks have already waived loans amounting to Rs 344 crore. He said that an amount of Rs 5253 crore has been earmarked in the State budget for the panchayats and other local bodies and he had a discussion with Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer on the steps need to be taken for strengthening the local bodies. The system of payment of pension to the retired employees has been simplified to ensure that they do not have to wait for years to receive pension, he added.

The Chief Minister said that the present government managed to persuade the Planning Commission to increase the annual allotment to Rs 5200 crore from Rs 1520 crore in 2000-2001, while, the state’s own revenue collection has also gone up considerably. He said that the per capita debt burden of Rs 850 is among the lowest in the country, he asserted. “We have also sought a grant of Rs 500 crore from the Government of India for the overall economic development of six underdeveloped communities, who are fighting for ST status,” he said.

Hitting out against his political opponents, Gogoi said that the AGP , like a drowning person, is trying to hold on to any straw and has been trying to forge alliance with any party. He said that the opposition parties has secret understanding during the last Panchayat polls but that did not prevent a Congress victory. He alleged that the AGP, which calls itself a regional party, was trying to forge alliance with BJP, a party which tries to divide the society on religious lines. He also claimed that even if Prafulla Kumar Mahanta comes back to the AGP, it would increase the strength of the regional party. source: assam tribune