Congress takes BJP government to task on Assam issues

GUWAHATI: The present BJP-led coalition government in Assam has failed in several sectors. There is a complete mismanagement in the State. Assam now ranks at the second or third position from below in various parameters of performances set by the Centre. This was stated by Prof. Gourav Vallabh, AICC spokesperson while addressing the media in Rajiv Bhawan here on Saturday.

Buttressing his claims, the Congress leader alleged, "What has happened to the BJP's vision document. It was full of promises; but the leaders failed to fulfil them. Their leaders have resorted to lies and deceit to whitewash their actions of misgovernance and paint a fair picture of their inactions.

"To top their inaction, they have throughout the last five years used communal divide as a tool to polarize the voters of Assam. Assam is the land of Srimanta Sankardeva who propagated an inclusive society. The BJP has been working overtime to destroy this social fabric of Assam."

He added, "While the BJP has been boasting of close co-ordination between the Central and the State government over the development efforts in Assam, the reality is completely different. The BJP has led the State into decline in all the key development indicators."

"I will raise five specific questions on governance and development parameters", he said, adding, "It took the BJP government two years to come up with a shoddy industrial development scheme. The North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS) doesn't even propose an exclusive industrial policy for the North-East.

"As per the 227th Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, only 33 paise per capita was allocated for Assam in 2019-20 (Rs 1 crore in total) under the NEIDS; and during 2019, Assam accounted for only 0.73 per cent of the large industrial units established in the country. "Of the 36 States and UTs combined, Assam ranked 20th in the 'Business Reform Action Plan Results-2019'. This indicates that no concrete reform was initiated by the BJP government in Assam. The State government owes an answer to the public in this regard."

On 'Employment Generation', Prof. Vallabh said, "As per the data of CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy), the unemployment rate in Assam in December 2020 was 7.6% — higher than the national unemployment rate of 6.5%. This is a result of negligence on the part of the BJP government in the last five years. There is no tailored policy-push for North East, no incentives for industries to set shops – and this has led to a complete paralysis in the employment-generation process."

Dwelling on the Public Health sector, the Congress leader said, "Against the promise of nine new medical colleges, one high-tech 500-bedded hospital in every district, the BJP government has deceived the Assamese people with the foundation-laying ceremony happening just a month before the elections. Reports from ORF (Observer Research Foundation) suggest that there is a 50% shortage of Community Health Centers in Assam. Shortage of trained medical manpower and poor state of Healthcare facilities indicate its complete neglect in the last five years

Pointing to the Education sector, Prof. Vallabh stated, "The BJP government not only failed to deliver on its promise of setting up 30 ITIs and an IIM, it has led the State into a decline. The NITI Aayog has recently released the 'India Innovation Index-2020'. Out of 27 States and 9 UTs, Assam is ranked 29th. This speaks of the State's overall pathetic performance in education – especially higher education and research — Science & Technology sector, as well as Industrial and Employment sectors.

Referring to the sector of 'Infrastructure Development', the Congress spokesperson said, "The BJP government has been completely indifferent towards building an infrastructure to withstand damage against natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. While close to one crore people in the State were devastated by the rampaging floods in 2020, the BJP leaders were all caught in hiding. No work has been taken towards infrastructure development. What has happened to their pre-poll promise of initiating measures against the perennial natural disasters afflicting Assam?"