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

AASU asks PM to institute probe

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has called upon the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to institute a thorough probe into the allegations of corruption and illegal activities against several Ministers of Assam. The students’ body said that as the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi has not taken any step to check such activities of the Ministers, the Centre must step in for a probe.In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the AASU said that during the tenure of the present Government, the entire State Administration has become totally corrupt and the recent arrest of Education Minister Ripun Bora by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) totally exposed the state of affairs in Assam.The memorandum said that the Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was allegedly involved in criminal activities in the past and he amassed lots of properties through illegal means. But instead of taking action against him, the Chief Minister made Sarma the spokesman of the Government. The AASU demanded a CBI probe into the allegations against Sarma.The AASU said that poaching of rhinos increased alarmingly during the tenure of Rockybul Hussain as the Forest Minister of the State and in the year 2007 alone, more than 20 rhinos were killed. The AASU also alleged that Hussain encouraged settlement of illegal migrants in the forest areas and demanded that a CBI probe should be instituted against the Minister.The memorandum further stated that during the tenure of Bharat Chandra Narah as the Water Resources Minister, no positive step was taken for flood management and demanded a probe into the allegations of corruption against the Minister. The memorandum further said that a criminal charge is pending against Excise Minister Gautam Roy, while, it is alleged that Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi had a hand in the Prasanna Timung’s missing case.The AASU further said that the Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission, headed by the Chief Minister failed to transform the elementary education scene in the state and the funds provided by the Centre in this regard were misused. Source: Assam Tribune

AGP holds dharna; asks Gogoi to quit; CM questions AGP moral rights

The main Opposition Asom Gana Parishad goes for a statewide dharna on Thursday demanding Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s resignation after the arrest of his education minister Ripun Bora even as the Chief Minister says the regional party has no moral right to seek his resignation.The regional further demand CBI probe into the allegations of some other members in the Gogoi cabinet to unearth the truth behind these. The party on Wednesday took out a procession to the Raj Bhawan from the party headquarters and met the governor Lt general (Retd) Ajoy Singh to dismiss the Gogoi Government. In yet another development, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said he would never resign in view of Ripun Bora’s arrest by CBI. He, however, said law would take its own course. When asked by the media people on Wednesday at the sidelines of a function at the Sankardev Kalakshetra, Mr Gogoi said the AGP has no moral right to demand his resignation. “When CBI was to chargesheet against Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in the multi crore Letter of Credit scam, did he resign?’ we his answer. Justifying Ripun Bora’s induction into the Cabinet the Chief Minister said said,” he was doing very well.” On the other hand, the All Assam Adivasi students Association of Assam has called for a 12 hour Assam bandh on Friday demanding capital punishment for Ripun Bora.

Source: Assam Times