GUWAHATI, Feb 13 - Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the budget presented at the Legislative Assembly on February 7 is an all-inclusive document that has tried to address the needs and concerns of all sections of Assam�s population and also lays down a roadmap for the long-term structural changes necessary for growth and development of the State.
Replying to the General Discussion on the Budget at the Assam Legislative Assembly today, Sarma said that creating economic buoyancy is a major strategy of the government and the idea is to reach a stage by 2021 so that Dispur is financially in a position to pay the salaries of the State Government employees with its own revenues without having to rely on Central assistance.
He said the budget has talked about policy change and infrastructural change and there will be no problem with regard to financing of the projects and schemes announced in it.
�By 2021, we want to reach a stage where the State Government is able to at least pay salary of 10 months, if not all 12 months, by our own revenue to our employees as against five months now. We can confidently say that we are on track,� said the Finance Minister.
Sarma said that the years between 2001 and 2005 saw the State moving towards an era of development but it got halted and the track changed after 2005. He said the BJP-led government in Dispur has now tried to bring back the growth story.
The minister said that for the Mid-Day Meal scheme and for transportation of subsidised rice the State Government will release the Centre�s share of funds from its own coffers without waiting for the funds to be released by New Delhi. He said in August the government will give �details and accountability� of what has been achieved regarding the 2016-17 budget presented last year. The schemes and projects announced during the last budget will be implemented till March this year.
Sarma said while the report of the latest pay commission will be implemented from April 1 this year, it had taken 39 months before the last pay commission�s report in 2006 to be implemented.
He said the budget has tried to reduce bureaucratisation and henceforth, the tender process of all departments are to be ready at the start of the fiscal by April-May and departments will only be allowed to spend 30 per cent of the allotted funds during the last quarter (January-March).
With regard to criticism about the eviction drive at government and forest land at various places across Assam, Sarma said protection and preservation of endangered species, including the one-horned rhino, is a primary concern. �If we have to carry out eviction drives to save the rhino, we will do it again and again,� he added.
Regarding criticism made by opposition MLAs during the General Discussion on the Budget that not much attention has been given for schemes to uplift the minorities, Sarma said that definition of the term �minority� has changed in Assam during the last 60 years. The Muslims already constitute a majority in 12 districts of Assam and the community should not regard itself as �minority�,� he said, adding, �We have to serve everyone... The time has come to move beyond identity politics.�
