GUWAHATI, March 18 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today defended the developmental approach manifested in his Budget for 2010-11 financial year as different from the traditional economic methods. But, he said, his approach was somewhat akin to that of the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. He was replying to the Budget debate in the State Assembly.
�We are committed to the people and people are our masters. People will judge my Budget, and if I have committed any wrong, I shall be punished by them. Adhering to mere technicalities is not going to serve the cause of the people. I believe in providing the people the tools to improve their productivity,� he said pointing to the Opposition�s criticisms.
He further said that for his Government �its everyday activities are connected with elections.� Here, he was referring to the Opposition�s criticism that the Budget was aimed at 2011 elections.
The Budget is in fact aimed at enhancing the productivity of the people of the State. �My stress is on development of the human capital rather than other assets. A poor man saved from the winter chill will certainly get his productivity enhanced,� he said. He was explaining his philosophy behind the Budget, while refuting the Opposition�s criticism of his proposal to distribute blankets among 20,000 below poverty line (BPL) beneficiaries in every Legislative Assembly Constituency.
Moreover, with this aim in view, the development of the rural people has been made the focal point of the Budget. As, he said, majority of the State�s people live in the rural areas. This philosophy has also resulted in the stress laid on the development of the individuals, he said. He further claimed that no Budget in the past had laid so much stress on improving the lot of the poor people.
Defending his Government�s habit of borrowing money, he said that outcome of the investment of such borrowed amounts in productive works are good for an economy. But if such amounts are invested in other works, the result of such investments may be dangerous for any economy.
Rubbishing the Opposition�s criticism of financial mismanagement, he said that the 13 th Finance Commission had extended an award of Rs 300 crore to the State for its better financial management. Moreover, the State is praised for proper utilization of the loan amounts, he said.
He claimed that what had been proposed in the Budget would come up and the Government would develop the ongoing as well as the proposed projects. He also assured that he would assume full responsibility for every thing done by him and claimed that without implementation of the schemes proposed during his tenure so much development would not have been possible in the State today.
The State Government is to mete out equal treatment to all sections of the people. And this approach of the Government has resulted in enhanced allocations towards development of the minorities, tea communities, Councils under the Sixth Schedule and the backward communities, he said.
The Government with its Budget proposals to reserve 50 per cent seats in the Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban local self bodies and also to reserve up to 20 per cent Government supplies and contracts etc, has sought to empower the women. Many women contractors are coming up these days, he said.
To generate employment, he said, the Budget has proposed support to the self-help groups and enhanced subsidy to the weavers, besides skill development centres and an employment generation financial corporation.
The Budget has laid stress on development of infrastructure, sports and culture and other urban areas as well. �Development of Guwahati alone is not the development of Assam,� he said.
On the issue of naming the proposed women�s university after Rajiv Gandhi, he said that this has been sought to be done in recognition to the contributions of the former Prime Minister to Assam.
