Realities belie Gogoi claims

MYTHS

* Soaring crowds at picnics

* Rising property prices

* Mushrooming malls and showrooms

* Piling garbage in the State

REALITIES

* Achievement in small scale industry sector less than 10 per cent

* Only 30 per cent of agricultural land covered under irrigation schemes

* White, green and blue revolutions remain non–starters

* Rs 700–crore worth fish imported every year despite abundance of water resources in the state

* Marketing facilities in rural areas dismal

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, January 10: For Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, soaring crowds at picnics, rising property prices, mushrooming malls and showrooms and piling garbage are yardsticks for development. Going by those yardsticks, the State seems to have developed a lot.

But when it comes to the key indicators of economic development, the State’s seems to be lagging far behind.

Ever since the Congress came to power 14 years back, the Chief Minister has been harping on three revolutions – white (milk production), green (agriculture) and blue (fish production). However, achievements in all the sectors have been negligible. In fact, the three sectors lack even the basic infrastructure.

The manufacturing sector is much behind other states.

The assurances of giving priority to small–scale, cottage and food–processing industries have not translated into actions on ground. The achievement in these sectors is hardly 10 per cent, sources said.

Virtually nothing has been done to improve marketing facilities in rural areas.

The so–called ‘white revolution’ also remains as a vague announcement. Sources said very little has been done for provisioning of cattle–feed, green fodder and subsidy in transportation.

Despite abundance of water resources in the State, the fish production in the State has been dismal in spite of a growing demand. The State is still having to import Rs 600 to 700 crore worth fish from outside annually. The basic requisites for development of the industry – like hygienic fish markets, ice factories, and processing units – are lacking as it has always been.

Assam government had targeted to create 27 lakh hectares of potential agricultural land through irrigation. But as on date, only about 30 per cent of the cultivable land is covered under irrigation projects.

Given the ground realities, the tall claims of Congress government that Assam has “developed” are bound to have less or no takers at all.