Congress slams BJP Government for economic & developmental failures in Assam

Guwahati, Jan. 10: The Congress party on Thursday accused the BJP led State government of total failure on the economic, human development, and law and order fronts.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, senior Congress party leader and former Rajya Sabha member Ripun Bora alleged that Assam is at the bottom of the lists among all the states and Union Territories (UTs) in many sectors.

"The BJP had promised to make Assam one of the top five states in India. Modi used to say A for Assam'. The BJP has been in power in Assam since 2016 and just a little over a year remains of the present term of the Himanta Biswa Sarma led government. In contrast to its claims, Assam has become one of the poorest states of India during the BJP's rule," Bora said. He added, "As per latest RBI data, Assam's per capita income in 2023-24 stood at Rs 1,35,787. We are third from the bottom. Assam ranks 31 among 33 states and UTs. This exposes the tall claims of Sarma and proves the downturn in the State's economy under the incumbent dispensation. Assam could not even compete with our neighbouring states. Meghalaya's per capita come is Rs 1,36,948, while Sikkim has a per capita income of Rs 5,87,743. And the picture is even worse if we analyze the district-level per capita income. In the case of Cachar, the per capita income is Rs 19,551, while it is Rs 19,055 in Hailakandi, Rs 20,093 in Karimganj, Rs 4,500 in Majuli, and around Rs, 5,000 in Mankachar. It is only due to a comparatively higher per capita income of Rs 1.78 lakh of Kamrup Metro that Assam was able to register an overall per capita income of Rs 1.35 lakh. This shows the level of poverty in the State. The BJP government has pushed Assam to bankruptcy."

Bora said Assam has the highest infant mortality rate (IMR), of 36 deaths per 1,000 live births, among WHO and the Ministry of Health and all the states, as per figures of the Family Welfare report, while the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is 195 per 1,00,000 live births. "This is on account of the poor health infrastructure in the State. The healthcare sector in Assam has virtually collapsed," the senior Congress leader said.

He alleged that Assam is at the 31st rank among 33 in the Human Development Index.

"As per NCRB report, the State registered 18,262 cases of rape in the last eight years and the conviction rate in cases of crimes against women in Assam is the lowest among all the states of India. Police are not working properly despite Sarma himself being in charge of the Home department. How can Assam be among the top states with such a record?" Bora said.

He further asserted that the school dropout rate in Assam is the highest among all the states.

"Data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus reveals that in 2021-22 and 2023-23, the dropout rate at the lower primary school stage was six per cent in Assam as against 1.5 per cent nationally. In the upper primary stage, the dropout rate in Assam was 8.8 per cent, while it was only three per cent at India level. Similarly, at the secondary level, Assam's dropout rate was 20.3 per cent as against 12.6 per cent registered nationally," Bora said.

He added. "When the BJP first came to power in Assam in 2016, there were 23 lakh registered un employed in the State. Now it has gone up to 32 lakh. As such, under BJP rule, the number of registered unemployed in Assam has increased by an additional nine lakh. All the State governments between 1952 and 2016 took loans totalling Rs 41,964 crore. In contrast, the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government took Rs 47,745 crore as loans, while the incumbent Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government has taken loans worth Rs 65,291 crore between 2021 and 2024. Assam is paying as much as Rs 8,000 crore per year as interest on the loans. What we pay as taxes goes to pay interests on loans."

Bora also accused the Narendra Modi-led NDA government of "stepmotherly treatment" against Assam.

"GST share to the tune of Rs 85,000 crore has not been released to Assam by the Centre. Flood relief and NDRF worth Rs 2.700 crore due to Assam is yet to be given. There are a total of 64,98,720 MGNREGA job card holders in Assam. They should get 100 days of work every year. However, only 6,402 job card holders could avail 100 as days of work. This has happened as the Centre has not released MGNREGA funds to Assam. Himanta Biswa Sarma must apologize to the people of Assam for betraying them," said the senior Congress party leader.

- By Staff Reporter