GUWAHATI, June 15 ? The decision of the State government to cut down on the ?salary and wages? component of the Annual Plan for the year 2003-04 has left it with additional Rs 480 crore for utilisation in development work. This amount of Rs 480 crore combined with Rs 61 crore ?one-time annual central assistance (ACA)? granted by the Planning Commission for the State in the current fiscal will put the State government at a slight liberty to go for sectoral as well as scheme-wise allotment of fund for various departments.
Minister of State for Planning and Development, Himanta Bishwa Sharma, today informed that the State government at the initiative of the Chief Minister had chalked out an action plan for optimum utilisation of the additional fund made available by its decision to reduce salary component of the Annual Plan this year. This has helped the government to increase the routine sectoral allocations to the departments besides providing additional development fund under various schemes.
In order to ensure maximum utilisation of the additional fund for development purpose Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has taken initiative to allocate Rs 188.54 crore against 20 ?State priority schemes? in various departments in the current fiscal. The departments concerned will be asked to consider these as ?must be implemented schemes? in addition to carrying out other schemes. It has been done in order to prevent the departments from resorting to clearing outstanding dues of previous years with the additional fund instead of utilising the same in development schemes.
Some of the ?State priority schemes? initiated by the Chief Minister are: conversion of at least 126 wooden bridges in rural areas to concrete ones within the year under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) at a cost of Rs 76.50 crore; improvement of ten district libraries and equipping State libraries with computer and internet connection at a cost of Rs 2 crore; free LPG connections to BPL families at a cost of Rs 5 crore; payment of State share of Rs 30 crore for Sarba Siksha Achani and DPEP in the current year; infrastructure development for National Games 2005 at a cost of Rs 10 crore; land acquisition for GNB road in Guwahati with Rs 2 crore; healthcare for aged with Rs 6.5 crore; construction of Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex at a cost of Rs 4 crore; payment of Rs 6 crore as State share for centrally sponsored schemes under Urban Development Department; air-conditioning of Rabindra Bhavan at a cost of Rs 50 lakh; 200 students upto class XII will be sent for excursion at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, total Rs 5.5 crore will be spent in giving VRS to employees of Guwahati Municipal Corporation, Assam Agri-industries Development Corporation and Assam Livestock and Poultry Corporation (ALPCO); Rs 12.70 crore will be provided as additional fund for MLA local area development schemes.
Similarly, Rs 61 crore one-time annual central assistance provided by the Planning Commission as part of the State plan for the year 2003-04 will be spent in implementing specific schemes. These include completion of 217 flood control projects at a cost of Rs 7 crore, completion of Athgaon road overbridge in Guwahati at a cost of Rs 8 crore, providing incentives to the tune of Rs 6 crore to SSI units as per the provisions of State industrial policy, procuring low-floor buses for ASTC with Rs 2 crore, computerisation of schools at a cost of Rs 10 crore, completion of 143 rural water supply projects at a cost of Rs 5 crore, renovation of toilet blocks in all the three State medical college hospitals at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore, construction of Krishi Niwas at Guwahati for farmers with Rs 1 crore, computerisation and laboratory grant of Rs 1 crore for Assam Agricultural University, Rs 50 lakh earmarked for heritage preservation while Rs 15 crore will be spent for development of infrastructure for National Games 2005.
Meanwhile, the State departments have been instructed to submit proposals to Finance department for supplementary demands for additional fund made available to them within June 30. The Chief Minister has requested the Speaker to convene a brief session of the State Assembly in the second week of July to pass the demands for supplementary grants.