GUWAHATI, Aug 23: Stating that Tarun Gogoi cannot take credit for the improved financial condition of Asom, former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today said the improved situation has its roots in the AGP tenure. He was addressing the press at the AGP headquarters in the city along with Party president Chandra Mohan Patowary.
He said, “It was the AGP government in the State that persuaded the then Prime Minister VP Singh to sanction grants to the State in a 90:10 ratio from the earlier 70:30. Under this ratio, the State received 90 per cent of the funds as Central grant and only 10 per cent was taken as loan. The present Congress government is now simply reaping the dividends of a step we had taken when we were in power.”
Mahanta said, “It was only when we were in power that the Centre took the decision to give 10 per cent of the amount collected in the Central government’s non-lapsable pool to the Asom government. Similarly, the royalty to be paid by OIL to the State was also increased during the tenure of the AGP government.”
Commenting on the amount of money sanctioned by the Planning Commission to the State for the current fiscal, Mahanta said, “The volume of money that was sanctioned is not important. We want to know what percentage of the country’s total plan outlay did the Asom Government get?”
The AGP leaders also made references to the Home Minister’s comments during the recent Chief Minister’s conclave in New Delhi. The Home Minister had castigated the Asom, Manipur and Nagaland governments for “bowing before the militants”. Mahanta said, “Gogoi should have been ashamed. If the Congress had not been in power at the Centre, Asom would have been under President’s rule by now”.
Mahanta also said that Gogoi’s recent comments against the AGP president was unbecoming of a Chief Minister. Gogoi had recently labelled Patowary as the “worst president” of the AGP. “Gogoi should at least respect the sanctity of the Chief Minister’s chair,” Mahanta said. THE SENTINEL
He said, “It was the AGP government in the State that persuaded the then Prime Minister VP Singh to sanction grants to the State in a 90:10 ratio from the earlier 70:30. Under this ratio, the State received 90 per cent of the funds as Central grant and only 10 per cent was taken as loan. The present Congress government is now simply reaping the dividends of a step we had taken when we were in power.”
Mahanta said, “It was only when we were in power that the Centre took the decision to give 10 per cent of the amount collected in the Central government’s non-lapsable pool to the Asom government. Similarly, the royalty to be paid by OIL to the State was also increased during the tenure of the AGP government.”
Commenting on the amount of money sanctioned by the Planning Commission to the State for the current fiscal, Mahanta said, “The volume of money that was sanctioned is not important. We want to know what percentage of the country’s total plan outlay did the Asom Government get?”
The AGP leaders also made references to the Home Minister’s comments during the recent Chief Minister’s conclave in New Delhi. The Home Minister had castigated the Asom, Manipur and Nagaland governments for “bowing before the militants”. Mahanta said, “Gogoi should have been ashamed. If the Congress had not been in power at the Centre, Asom would have been under President’s rule by now”.
Mahanta also said that Gogoi’s recent comments against the AGP president was unbecoming of a Chief Minister. Gogoi had recently labelled Patowary as the “worst president” of the AGP. “Gogoi should at least respect the sanctity of the Chief Minister’s chair,” Mahanta said. THE SENTINEL
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