Gogoi harps on Special Category Status

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, July 11: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi impressed upon the Union Home Minister Rajth Singh to restore 90:10 fund pattern for the Northeastern states and their Special Category Status.   

Speaking at the meeting of the Chief Ministers of Northeastern states which was chaired by the Union Home Minister, Chief Minister Gogoi said that development of the region will be expedited if the Centre restores the Special Category Status for NE states. Gogoi said peace in the region is intrinsically linked to development and without the Special Category Status and restoration of 90:10 funding pattern for the Centrally sponsored schemes, development of the region is not possible.

Claiming that terrorism in Assam is at the lowest ebb, Gogoi also urged upon the Union Home Minister to take necessary steps to act against terrorists taking refuge in the foreign soils of Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Gogoi also underscored the importance of identifying factors fuelling terrorism and also talked at length on the need for cutting them off from the people, modernization of police forces and civil policing as critical areas for dealing with terrorism. He also dwelt on the rise of commul forces in the State and the State government's resolve to tackle such problems.

Gogoi said that there should be parity between fund sanction and release by the Centre, as the delay in fund release creates impediments in growth and development. "Considering that Assam is located in a high seismic zone with flood and erosion creating havoc in the State every year, the Centre should allot adequate funds for disaster magement and border affairs magement," he said, adding that the State has already lost more than 4 lakh hectares of land to erosion.   

Pointing to the withdrawal of Backward Region Fund by the Centre, Gogoi said unless the dispensation at the Centre pays special attention to the Northeast, development will be slowed down which might fuel rise of subversive forces again.