write a letter to the editor regarding bandh culture in district
Answers
Guwahati, Nov. 9: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said that frequent strike calls by different organisations had affected the timely utilisation of development funds in the state.
“Despite my government’s efforts to expedite the development work, we have failed in the task owing to bandh calls by various organisations at the drop of a hat. The bandh culture in the state must come to an end. Utilisation funds received from the central government as well as our own exchequer has been hit by such bandhs,” Gogoi told reporters here this afternoon.
Sources in the chief minister’s office later told The Telegraph that the government was exploring various legal options to take stern action against those who were in a habit of giving bandh calls and strikes in support of their so-called demands.
Gogoi has asked officials to constitute a committee comprising experts from different fields to suggest ways as how to crack down on bandh organisers, a source said.
Sources said the government has also instructed the administration to take effective steps to realise the damages incurred on account of strikes.
The chief minister’s opposition against the bandh culture has come at a time when his government is facing strong criticism from the Opposition for being unable to utilise development funds.
The Centre’s plan allocation for Assam was Rs 9,000 crore during 2011-12. Sources said Assam could only spend Rs 6,357.46 crore, while the balance amount lapsed.
“In the previous fiscal (2012-13), the allocation was Rs 10,500 crore and the state could utilise little more than 70 per cent of the total allocation till March 31 this year,” a source said.
Gogoi said it was very difficult for the government departments and agencies to maintain the flow of executing development work in the face of frequent bandhs and strikes.
The situation has reached such a stage that Gogoi’s colleague and power minister Pradyut Bordoloi recently said the bandh culture has hit Assam’s aim to become self-sufficient in power generation with NTPC’s ambitious Rs 4,720 crore Bongaigaon thermal power project being delayed by two years.
The project, which is coming up at Salakati in Kokrajhar district and is expected to generate 750MW power, was to be commissioned by March 2012. The state has been witnessing a series of violent protests and bandhs affecting normal life, particularly in lower and central Assam since the Centre’s announcement of the creation of Telangana.
Different groups and organisations have been giving bandh calls since then, demanding separate states carved out of Assam.
Gogoi, who returned from London after a weeklong private trip on Thursday, expressed happiness over the visit of actor Aamir Khan. He said Aamir’s visit would send a positive message about Assam to outsiders.