Union Budget to Benefit Assam, Northeast: BJP-AGP
Opposition terms it disappointing
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The ruling BJP and the AGP have termed the Union Budget for 2019-20 an inclusive Budget that is set to benefit Assam and the Northeast, the Opposition in the State, on the other hand, has termed it ‘disappointing’.
BJP’s State general secretary and Mangaldai MP Dilip Saikia said that this year’s Budget is a people-oriented and inclusive one. Talking to The Sentinel, Saikia said, “The Budget was prepared keeping an eye on the promises and assurances made by the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll. It is an inclusive Budget as it has something for all – farmers, poor, women, middle class (both upper and lower), youth and others.”
Saikia said that the Northeast has got special importance in the budget. “The allocation of funds for the region in this Budget is Rs 12,500 crore more than that of 2018-19. The Budget has many schemes for all-round development of Assam and the Northeast,” he said, and added that the emphasis on road, air, waterway and railway connectivity in the Budget is going to benefit Assam and the Northeast.
The AGP sees fortune for Assam and the Northeast in the Union Budget, 2019-20. Party president and State Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said, “The agriculture sector is set to get a boost. In fact, the sector is in for an agricultural revolution in the State. The Northeast will accrue benefits from the NESIDS (North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme) under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). The scheme has an allocation of Rs 695 crore in 2019-20 as against Rs 140 crore in 2018-19. All schemes under NESIDS are 100 per cent centrally funded ones, and this scheme is exclusively for the Northeast.”
Bora further said that this year’s Budget is a people-oriented one, and it is a positive sign that emphasis has been laid on women and higher education, besides academic research.
The Congress in Assam, however, termed the Budget a disappointed one. “It is without any special package for flood and erosion in Assam,” APCC (Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) president Ripun Bora said. “It has nothing new for Assam and the Northeast. In fact, the budget has poured cold water into the expectations of Assam and other States in the region. The Budget is bereft of any special package for tea tribes and ex-tea tribes also. It has nothing for women security as well. Without any attempt to increase employment opportunity, the budget looks like a thoughtless exercise. It has no mechanism to contain the rise in prices either,” the APCC president said.
AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal said that Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash has not been reflected in the Union Budget. In a statement issued to the media on Friday, Ajmal said, “There has been no rise in the allocation of funds for the minorities. This goes against the policy of Sabka saath, sabka vikash. The Budget has promised stipend for minority students. However, the amount allocated for minorities will not let any student get more than Rs 4,000. I saw nothing new in the Budget. The Budget speech sounds like a lollipop.”