Gogoi raps DoNER Ministry

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 18: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today asked the DoNER  Ministry to publish a 'White Paper' giving details of the funds it has released over the last 18 months for the development of the Northeast.

In a statement here on Wednesday, Gogoi said: "Since the DoNER Ministry has come into being, the Northeast has not subjected to such a shoddy treatment, like the one it has been meted out to the region by the present dispensation at the Centre".

The Chief Minister said that the Centre has withdrawn the 'Special Category Status' from the Northeast, thus delving a severe blow to the tempo of development of the region. Inflicting yet another blow to the Northeast, the BJP-led NDA Government has suspended North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, thereby discouraging flow of investment and industrialization in the region.

Gogoi said that DoNER Ministry was created to give a fillip to the growth and development of the Northeast. However, the Centre's decision to withdraw the Special Category Status has not only put a spanner on the flow of fincial packages but slowed down the pace of development of the Region. Gogoi also said, "When the Centre has not released flood magement fund to Assam, State's share of oil royalty has been put on halt, why the DoNER Ministry which has been mandated to see the matters related to the socio-economic development of the Northeast, is maintaining a stoic silence?"  The DoNER Minister's frequent visit to the Northeast should translate into a corresponding fund flow to put the region into growth trajectory, Gogoi said, adding that the DoNER Ministry giving a detailed account of the fund released for the Northeast in the last 18 months would add credibility to the statements of the Minister.