I'm open to criticism: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has appealed to the media to criticize the government sharply so that it doesn't become a rudderless entity.

In his New Year interaction with the media here on Friday, Sonowal said, "I like sharp criticism by the media. They criticize the government on various problems afflicting the society. We can't reach each and every stakeholder in society to solve their problems. The media is an integral part of the society. They point out problems to draw our attention. The responsible role being played by the media is one of the reasons behind the success of the State government.

"I appeal to the media to write freely and pinpoint our mistakes. I go through media reports that criticize the government. I'm also trying my level best to find solutions to the problems being raised by the media.

"During the past four-and-a-half years there have been no ethnic clashes in the State. This is because we're going forward taking all sections of people together. This is despite the fact that a section is out to create disturbances in the State. It's peace in the State that has ensured development. What's significant is that youths have come forward to develop talents latent in them. And many of them have met with success.

"I appeal to the parents to see that their wards take education, culture and sports seriously. They've to make stride with these three aspects in life.

"To do away with the evil practice of middlemen going away with the benefits of various schemes depriving the target beneficiaries, the BJP government, at the initiative of the Prime Minister, has introduced the DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) Scheme. In this system, benefits go directly to the bank accounts of target beneficiaries. This prevents corruption in the implementation of schemes.

"As per strict instruction issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we're monitoring each and every scheme properly, and the result is that the Northeast has progressed a lot.

"We're careful to the fragile ecology. Development shouldn't be at the cost of the ecology. We're laying stress on natural conservation. It has led to the increase in forest cover and tiger population in the State, besides the sharp fall in rhino killing.

"For the utmost development of natural and human resources, we've conducted a study. We're going ahead in accordance with the recommendations of the study."

Present at the CM's interaction with the media were Chief Minister's Media Adviser Hrishikesh Goswami, Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua, Information and Public Relations Commissioner Pritam Saikia and others.

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