GUWAHATI, July 16 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today defended the White Paper submitted by his Government to the Assembly on matters related to development and growth between 2001 and 2010, as a genuine document that reflect the developmental initiatives of his Government in their true colours. He also asserted that sincere approach holds the key to solve the problems facing the State.
The financial turn around achieved by the State under the present Government has been hailed by the 13 th Finance Commission, he said quoting the report of the Commission, which extended a Rs 300-crore performance enhancing grant to the State.
He also announced that in the next couple of months, the State Government would come up with a list of the people benefited by the schemes of the Government.
Refuting the Opposition charges that the document was a camouflaged one, Gogoi said that if it had provided any wrong information, Opposition members were free to point them out and the Government would get them corrected.
The present Government took over in a harrowing time. But it moved on with the urge to develop the State. The Governments that ruled the State till 1970s were keen to develop the State. But since the late 1970s the State was subjected to pass through the dark days. And thus developmental activities in the State were affected.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is now trying to project itself to the main catalyst for all the developmental activities that have taken place in the State in the recent years. But the fact remains that the recent development activities in the State are the products of the present Government�s arduous persuasion with the Central Government to help the State overcome the impediments on its way ahead, he said.
�We argued with the Planning Commission with our own line of arguments and for that we did not depend merely on the statements drafted by the bureaucrats. We simply took the figures from their drafts to present our cases.
�With such persuasive efforts, we could secure an allocation of over Rs 57,000 crore from the Planning Commission. We claimed it as our due,� he said.
However, he said, the State has still the problems like unemployment, poverty etc.
Defending his Government�s practice of taking loans, he said that such loans come in the form of 90 per cent grants and ten per cent loan. It would be foolish if one does not take such loans. �One must avail such golden opportunities,� he said.
The State should go for borrowing more to enhance its productivity, he asserted.
The present Government in the State has released its share to the Central schemes, devolved power to the grass root levels to usher in development. But interior areas are still facing problems in matters of development.
To improve road connectivity, the present Government has built 13,000 kms of bitumen roads and 10,000 kms of kutcha roads, against the 45 km of bitumen roads and 30 km of kutcha roads constructed all over the State during the AGP regime, he said.
About 70,000 students have so far been provided with computers and this one of the big drive to develop human resources of the State. Such initiatives have also brought about a change in the mindset of the people, he said.
The new medical colleges proposed to be set up in the State, despite constraints, are also expected to accelerate development of the human resources of the State. The Government is also proposing to set up a number of national educational institutions in the State.
The State will have to examine the issue of mega-hydel projects with a pro-development approach. For, he said, the State is in need of power to accelerate its economic growth. In the same breath he said that the State also needed to reclaim its land eroded by the rivers and it also needs sincere steps to solve the two problems of flood and erosion.
Defending the Government�s programme for distributing blankets among the poor people, yarn among the weavers and bicycles among the poor girl students and power tillers among the farmers, he said that such steps were undertaken with a view to enhancing productivity of the poor people. Only a person free from disease and enhanced capacity can work hard and get his or her productivity enhanced, he claimed.
The Government will form a farmer�s development council for the development of the State�s farmers.
Investment proposals worth around Rs 40,000 crore have been received by the State during the present regime. The Government is also trying to mobilize public sector investment in the State. It is also planning to earn money through tree plantation. This will help the State to maintain its ecological balance too, said the Chief Minister.
