GUWAHATI, March 13 � Criticizing the Central government for cut in fund allotments under various schemes, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that despite reduction in assistance from New Delhi the State will continue to make efforts for economic development and the �old pre-2001 days� will not be allowed to return to Assam.
�I assure you that we will not go back to the pre-2001 days where even salaries of government employees could not be paid,� Gogoi said in the Legislative Assembly during his reply to the general discussion on the Budget.
The Chief Minister said that the State Budget has been prepared based on the availability of resources.
�Law and order and economic management have to go hand-in-hand for the State to march ahead. Our growth is higher than the national average. We are moving on steadily, but I do admit that we have to move even faster,� said the Chief Minister.
Lambasting the role of the NDA-led Union government, Gogoi said, �We still need Central assistance as we are dependent on it to a large extent... There is no use comparing Assam with other advanced States. From 2004-05, when the UPA came to power at the Centre, we got good amount of Central assistance. However, if now Central assistance is reduced, it will be difficult for us. Centre has already started cutting allocations. If we do not get funds like in the past, our growth rate will come down.�
He said Central Budgetary provisions to the State has already fallen under the NDA regime and added that it was cause for concern.
In this regard, he mentioned cuts under ICDS, flood relief, forests and wildlife, National Food Security and rural electrification.
�The per capita income of our population has risen in recent years. More roads are being built and infrastructure is being developed. So our expenditures are also rising. We are doing everything to mobilize own resources, including hiking taxes... Once GST is implemented next year, tax collection will go up further,� he said.
Gogoi took on the Opposition over their stand on the Budget presented earlier this week.
�Some people have termed the Budget as populist and poll-oriented. It is targeted to help the poor people, the farmers, women and youths. Let them (Opposition) term the Budget whatever they want. That is the difference between the Capitalist economy and the economy of Mahatma Gandhi. That is my philosophy. We want all-inclusive development, taking along the poor. Blankets and threads will be distributed among the poor,� he said, adding that Assam cannot have a Budget like that of Punjab and other advanced States.
Regarding complaints about non-submission of utilization certificates, he said, �If we had not utilized funds, where did all the medical colleges, bridges and roads come from.
�Look at the number of engineering and medical colleges built and the number of educational institutions provincialized in the first 50 years after Independence and what we achieved in the last 10 years,� he added.
Gogoi said efforts are on to increase power generation and added that even major cities like Hyderabad witnessed power cuts of up to four hours every day.