GUWAHATI, July 17 � The State Government is going to move a resolution tomorrow for the sake of a consensus in the State Assembly on the issue of declaring the State�s problems of flood and erosion as the national ones.
Disclosing this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka told the House today that the official resolution on the issue would be an elaborate one and it would do away with all the shortcomings that the private members� resolution on the issue had had. The private members� resolution was moved by Asom Gana Parishad�s (AGP�s) Phani Bhusan Choudhury, Keshav Mahanta, Padma Hazarika and Bhupen Roy and All India United Democratic Front�s (AIUDF�s) Monowar Hussain.
The Minister, therefore, urged the Opposition members to withdraw their resolution. The Opposition members withdrew their resolution after this announcement of the Minister.
Earlier, moving the resolution, Phani Bhusan Choudhury resented the failure of the Central Government to translate into a reality the May 5, 2005 assurance of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the tripartite meeting on the implementation of the Assam Accord, to treat Assam�s flood as a national problem.
He pointed out to the fact that the Congress-led State Government boastfully claimed, through newspaper advertisements that it was because of its insistence the Prime Minister had made such an announcement.
Monowar Hussain said that an all party delegation should be sent to Delhi under the leadership of Speaker Pranab Gogoi, to take up the issue with the Central Government..
Padma Hazarika argued that since the financial condition of Assam is not sound, hence it needs to raise this demand vociferously. He also wondered as to what had prevented the Prime Minister from translating his May 5, 2005 announcement into a reality.
Keshav Mahanta argued that if the Central Government could claim its authority over the resources of the State there should not be any reason as to why it should not declare the problems of flood and erosion faced by Assam as the national ones.
He further pointed to the fact that the erosion caused by the sea is regarded to be a national problem, while the erosion caused by the rivers are not treated as the national one.
AIUDF member Abdur Rahim Khan tried to add some lines on erosion in the resolution but his plea was rejected by the Chair following an argument made by Planning and Development Minister Tanka Bahadur Rai that the AIUDF member had not moved his amendment yesterday nor he had supplied a copy of his proposed amendment to the mover of the resolution.
Dr Bhumidhar Barman (Congress) suggested that the Opposition members should withdraw their resolution to facilitate an all embracing resolution on the issue, incorporation the aspect of erosion also.
