Headlines       Vol. 1 Issue 38-39

Mar 7 - Mar 21 , 1999

Assam loses crores for not holding Panchayat elections Assam lost Rs. 33.34 crore in the last financial year from its share of resources allocated by the Tenth Finance Commission for not holding panchayat elections on time. In future too, 20 per cent of the funds for the Jawahar Rojgar Yojana and the Employment Assurance Schemes will be held back in case the State does not hold panchayat elections. The matter came to light when Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta met Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission K. C. Pant to finalise the annual plan size for the year 1999-2000. The 1999-2000 annual plan for Assam has been finalised at Rs. 1, 750 crore, an increase of six per cent over the plan allocation of Rs.1, 650 crore, for 1998-99. During the meeting, growing industrial sickness and deteriorating health of the power sector in the State were discussed. It had been suggested that the State should go in for promotion of village and small industries to augment employment opportunities and avail itself of concessions and exemptions being offered for the promotion of industrial growth. In this connection, Mr. Pant asked the Chief Minister to take steps to privatise sick public sector units and progressively reduce the size of government machinery. Regarding the power sector, it was suggested that the State accord priority to the completion of the on-going projects, improve operational efficiency and capacity utilisation and upgrade the transmission and distribution system while reducing pilferage of electricity. The Planning Commission also asked the Assam Government to step up its resource mobilisation efforts as the State's own resources were not showing any appreciable increase in recent years. The balance of current revenues for the State was also negative for many years. The commission has asked the State not to divert the funds meant for specific projects. The Planning Commission informed the Assam Government that the non-lapseable fund created for bridging the infrastructural gaps in the North-Eastern region had been operationalised and about Rs. 23.96 crore released recently to the State. The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission expressed hope that with the use of non-lapsable funds, the North-Eastern states would be able to improve their infrastructural facilities and contribute more to the national product. On his part, Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta requested the Planning Commission to take immediate steps to implement the recommendations of the Shukla Commission and provide necessary fund for Assam over and above the normal State plan on 100 per cent grant basis. Mr. Mahanta felt that for sustained and rapid growth of the economy, infrastructure development was a necessary pre-requisite. He assured that all possible government efforts were taken for the development of industries. Commenting on the power situation Prafulla Mahanta lamented over the fact that no efforts were made to exploit the rich hydel potential of the region. He felt that harnessing the tributaries of the Brahmaputra for hydel purpose would also provide a permanent solution to the devastating floods problem in the State. He informed that a big investment would be required to improve the power scenario of the State. Prafulla Mahanta termed the flood menace in Assam as a national problem and demanded that it should be treated as such. He said, “Although, the Brahmaputra Board was set up way back in 1980, it is yet to take up any major project having a substantial impact in controlling the floods. The State Government has been compelled to construct embankments and other short term measures. In the Prime Minister's package, to meet the cost of short term measures for controlling flood in Assam, Rs. 500 crore were assured for the period 1997-2002. Out of this Rs. 225 crore were earmarked for the projects to be implemented by the Brahmaputra Board, leaving a balance of about Rs. 300 crore for short term flood control measures for Assam. Our flood control department have submitted suitable proposals. But necessary fund is yet to flow." Commenting on the Central assistance of Rs. 23.96 crore from the non-lapsable fund, Mr. Mahanta said, “This is grossly inadequate to meet special requirement for development of infrastructure.” He expressed hope that in the coming years the amount would be substantially increased. The Assam Chief Minister had also made the following demands to the Planning Commission: a) The deficit on revenue account or negative balance of current revenues of special category states should be met either through non-plan grants recommended by the Finance Commission or through Central Plan assistance as per the practice prevailing before 1988-89. b) In case of Assam, debt relief should be given in respect of outstanding Central loans availed prior to 1/4/90 on the basis of 90:10 pattern of plan financing. Central loan assistance for Brahmaputra Flood Control may be coverted into grants and outstanding amounts thereof should be fully written off. c) Adequate and timely release of fund for the projects/schemes covered under Prime Minister's new initiatives for the North-East should be ensured. d) The Government of India had already announced a new package of incentives for the industries located in the North-East. But it has remained in-operative because the necessary notifications are yet to be issued. I request expeditious issuance of the notifications. e) The Assam Government has already started work on preparation of a Human Development report for Assam. I would like to request the Planning Commission to provide necessary funds for the purpose.

| Assam | Oriental Times(Headlines) | Home Page |