Garo bodies prick holes in Gogoi's Budget proposal

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 14: For the past 14 years, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is seen to have made tall promises in his Annual Budgets, but did precious little to live up to them. A number of Garo organizations of Assam are shocked to find fresh promises made by the Chief Minister in his Budget for fiscal 2015-16 presented in the State Assembly recently.   

In this year’s Budget the Chief Minister proposed to six more development councils, one each for Garos, Kumars, Modahis, Suts, Hajongs and Chaoduang communities.

In a statement issued to the press, the Garo tiol Council (GNC), the Garo Women Council (GWC) and the Garo Youth Council (GYC) expressed their displeasure with the Chief Minister playing with the sentiment of the community by making tall promises in the annual budgets only to deceive them later.

According to GNC president Arbithson G Momin, on August 11 Budget speech for the fiscal 2014-15 Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said: “The Government of Assam is actively considering the creation of Garo Autonomous Council (GAC) for the socio-economic development of Garo people living in Assam.”

Momin said: “It’s sorry to say that the Chief Minister broke his Budget proposal. In the Budget for 2015-16, he has toned down his earlier written promise and mentioned the promised council as a development council. We request the Chief Minister not to break his promise for GAC made in the Annual Budget for 2014-15.”

It is worth mentioning here that this is not just one such incident of false promises made by the Chief Minister in his Budget proposals. There are many such Budget promises that failed to see light of the day. The situation has, perhaps, come to such a pass now that even the Chief Minister himself forgets what promises he has made earlier. It cannot be ruled out that the gulf of difference between the two promises for a council for the development of Garos living in Assam made in the budget of 2014-15 and the Budget of 2015-16 is the result of overlapping of forgotten promises.