GUWAHATI, Jan 19 - Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the latter�s visit belied the expectations of the people of the State.
He also demanded that the Centre should immediately restore the special category State status to Assam and other States of the region.
Addressing a press conference this evening, Gogoi said that during his speeches, the Prime Minister did not mention the key issues concerning Assam. The people of the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) area were expecting a special package, but no such announcement came from the Prime Minister, he added.
Gogoi pointed out that the Prime Minister did not mention the key issues like flood and erosion in his speeches. He even did not mention anything on the infiltration issue and the process of updating the National Register of Citizens, he added. He also misled the people about the hydropower potential of the State.
The Chief Minister said that though the Prime Minister in his speech had criticised his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, Assam got much more during the UPA regime. He said that he would soon publish a White Paper on what Assam received from the UPA Government and from the present Government. He claimed that the State is ready to submit all the details of the expenditures of the Central funds and on its part, the Centre should restore the funding pattern of the Special Category States.
Gogoi also submitted a letter to the Prime Minister today and demanded that in addition to restoration of the Special Category State Status, the Centre should restore all the schemes closed down in recent times. He said that Assam, which faced severe floods last time, should receive a special package similar to the ones given to Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir. He demanded that erosion should be treated as a national disaster. He also demanded that ST status should be given to six communities immediately.
The Chief Minister further lamented that though a Rs 1350 crore scheme was submitted to the Government of India for setting up skill development centres in all the development blocks of the State, the State Government is yet to receive any response.
