Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi slams Dispur

GUWAHATI: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has taken a dig at the State government, accusing the ruling dispensation of "being concerned with renovating and beautifying their bungalows at a time when the State is grappling with issues such as COVID, inflation and drastic rise in fuel prices."

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Gogoi said, "At a time when the government cannot waive off microfinance loans, it is shameful that lakhs of public money are being spent on renovating expensive bungalows. Such expenditure at this point is completely wasteful and does nothing to alleviate the sufferings of the people who are burdened with increasing toll, cess, etc."

"When an investment of Rs 3.6 crore has been made already per bungalow with taxpayers' money, this flagrant display of insensitivity on the part of the PWD at a time when the people are facing extreme financial hardships needs to be questioned and accounted for," he said.

Further, stating on the Cattle Preservation Bill 2021, which was tabled in the Assembly on Monday, Gogoi said that Congress has been raising the issue of protection of cows for a long period now.

"In the 2021 election manifesto, we had promised the construction of gaushalas in every district. The Assam Congress also raised the issue of illegal cow syndicates in the state under the BJP government," he said.

"All the key provisions of this Bill are already present in the existing law of 1950. Why was that not amended if needed, and implemented properly? The government does not need a new law to tackle the problem of cow smuggling," Gogoi said.

He underlined that this Bill is nothing but a ploy to divert attention from the government's 'failures' in COVID management and vaccination. "This Bill if converted into an Act will sound the death-knell for thousands of dairy farmers and cooperatives in Assam," said Gogoi.

He stressed that these cooperatives will not be able to take care of the aged cows that have stopped producing milk.

"It will create an environment of harassment when farmers want to purchase cattle. There is no mention of how to increase the production of dairy, create more cooperatives, production units etc. The Congress, on the other hand, had brought a World Bank project to Assam to promote dairy production," he added.

Also Read: Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi States ''Discernible Inequity'' in Allocation of Ventilators to NE States

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