GUWAHATI, March 16 � Preoccupation with the Rajya Sabha election parleys compelled the main opposition party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) to refrain from initiating the Budget debate in the State Assembly today and Independent MLA Bhuban Pegu initiated the debate, which is regarded to be a significant development in the history of the State Assembly.
However, the other members of the Opposition lambasted the Government mainly for its failure to spell out any step to arrest the rise in the prices of essential commodities.
Pegu alleged that the basic guidelines of the Constitution and financial rules were violated while drafting the Budget. For, he reasoned that the sources of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deposits which have been proposed to be utilized for reducing the Budget deficits, were not mentioned in the Budget or the Budget speech. He demanded a clarification from the Government on the sources of the RBI deposits.
The basic issues confronting the people of the State have been ignored by the budget and only some temporary measures are proposed in it, he said.
He also alleged that there was no importance attached to the agriculture sector of the State in the budget. This is reflected in the absence of any measure to solve flood and erosion and also to irrigate the fields. During the rainy season, the farmers of the State have to face the wrath of floods and during the dry season they cannot till their land due to lack of irrigation, said Pegu.
The budget has also failed to do anything to improve the Public Distribution System (PDS) network. The State has so far not been able to issue any additional Below Poverty Line (BPL) card to its BPL people, he alleged.
CPI-M legislator Ananta Deka said that the budget has failed to provide a direction to the State�s economy towards a healthy growth. It is aimed at 2011 elections. It has proposed no step to arrest the rise in prices of essential items. The demand of the people for universalisation of the PDS has also been ignored by the budget, he alleged.
It has also failed to propose any succour to the unemployed section of the State�s people. He attributed the inability of the Government to provide relief to the unemployed lot of the people to the commitment it has made to the 13 th Finance Commission on job shrinking in the Government departments.
The proposed pension fund is so designed that it would be open to the market forces and this is dangerous for the people. Moreover, the Government has also indicated its eagerness to privatize the education sector, he alleged.
Ataur Rahman Majarbhuyan (AUDF) alleged that there was no step announced in the budget to arrest price rise. He also alleged that in the name of providing relief to the minorities only the Central Government schemes were announced in the budget.
Moreover, there was no scheme announced in the budget for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the ethnic clashes of Kokrajhar and Bogaigaon, he alleged.
Binanda Saikia (Cong) praised the budget as a pro-people one and he reminded the Opposition members that the Government is not an NGO and hence there might be some elements of populism in the budget to woo the voters. The performance of the Government is connected with its electoral prospect, he said.
The mechanization of the agriculture sector is a contribution of the present Government and this has attracted many people to become agriculturist, he said.
Thaneswar Basumatary and Kamal Singh Narzary (both BPF) also supported the budget.
