GUWAHATI, Dec 20 - Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi demanded Union Minister of State Sarbananda Sonowal to come out with a White Paper as to what the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre had done for Assam during its one and a half years of tenure.
In a statement here today, Chief Minister Gogoi asked Union Minister Sonowal to come out with a factsheet as to what the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre had done for Assam during its one and a half years of rule instead of unleashing a misinformation campaign against the State Government.
Gogoi while asking Sonowal to come out with a White Paper on the allocation of Central funds for Assam under different heads by the present BJP-led NDA Government, reiterated that the State Government would publish within a fortnight about the slew of development initiatives taken by the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during the 10-year tenure of the UPA Government. �The BJP must also come out with a factsheet as to what the previous and the present BJP-led NDA Governments have done for the State of Assam so that the people can judge things in proper perspectives,� he added.
Gogoi asked Sonowal to come out with the exact allocation of funds the BJP-led NDA Government had given to Assam on floods and erosion, MGNREGA, IAY and other development schemes. �Not to speak of special Central assistance, the State is yet to receive a single penny under National Disaster Response Fund except Rs 430.97 crore as Central share of SDRF in 2014-15 which is due to every State,� he said, adding that Sonowal did not exert pressure on the Centre to release the due funds to the State Government. In this context, Gogoi said the Centre is yet to release Rs 1000 crore for flood management programme.
The Chief Minister said that Sonowal also did not pressurise the Centre for depriving Assam and the North Eastern States of the Special Category Status, withdrawal of suspension on NEIIPP and Backward Region Grant Fund, restoration of funding pattern to the earlier 90:10 basis, besides ensuring funds flow from NLCPR and NEC which have witnessed sharp declines.
