Economy / Assam

GUWAHATI, May 15 ? The fate of over 16,000 employees of the Assam Tea Corporation (ATC) hangs in balance as it has incurred huge losses. The situation of the corporation has reached such a magnitude that the authorities are yet to clear the salaries of the employees for the last several months. The ATC was set up with 14 tea gardens scattered over six districts ? Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Sonitpur and Karimganj, with an eye on boosting the tea sector and providing employment to the youths of the State. But now, most of the gardens of the ATC are in dire straits due to political...

NEW DELHI, May 14 ? In a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, engagement of 150 road contractors by the State PWD to renovate 100 km stretch of roadwork of the historic Dhodar Ali road has thrown the project behind schedule by over a decade. The State PWD?s practice of distributing works among contractors has raised quite a few eyebrows in the government circle, as even after engaging 150 contractors to renovate 100 km stretch of the road, it has taken the department over a decade to execute only 80 per cent of the work. The road improvement of the Dhodar Ali was sanctioned in...

GUWAHATI, May 10? The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is actively considering an assistance of Rs 2000 crore (400 US $ million) to Assam. This was stated by Frank J Polman, Country Director of the Bank, during the concluding session of the three-day meeting of the officials of the ADB and the Government of Assam on May 10 which was chaired by the Chief Minister of Assam, stated an official press release. The delegation had visited Assam as a follow up of their fruitful visit to the State in December 2001. One of their visit objectives was to finalise the Country Assistance Program for India for...

GUWAHATI, May 10 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has assured the Vice-Chancellor and the Executive Council of Gauhati University that although a 10 per cent reduction in the statutory grant to the University had to be made, the payment of the salaries to the university teachers would not be affected in any way as the State Government would be taking all possible measures to ensure normal payment of salaries to them, said an official press release here today. The Chief Minister was holding a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor and the Executive Council members of Gauhati University yesterday at...

GUWAHATI, May 8 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today announced that salaries and expenditures of State Ministers and top bureaucrates would be reduced in view of the precarious financial crisis gripping the State. Talking to newsmen at Janata Bhawan here this afternoon, the Chief Minister informed that there would be 25 per cent pay-cut, 20 per cent cut on travel allowance and 20 per cent cut on telephone expenditure for all the Ministers as part of the austerity measures being contemplated by the State Government. He further informed that the Government would put ceiling on travel and telephone...

NEW DELHI, May 6 ? Hit by the Eleventh Finance Commission (EFC) awards, the Assam Government has decided to seek compensation from the Union Finance Ministry for landing the State in serious financial mess. ?Assam Government is not going to ask for reopening of the EFC but we expect the Central Government to compensate us for injustice done to us,? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.

?Delhi cannot allow this to happen to Assam, and has to come up with a compensation package,? he said, adding that he was aware that the Central Government was not in a position to reopen the EFC. The Chief Minister...

NEW DELHI, May 4 ? Alarmed at the plight of the tea workers, Assam Government has decided to expedite the process of leasing out the Assam Tea Corporation (ATC) gardens, even as Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi asked the Commerce Minister to organise a national seminar on the predicament of the tea industry. The order to immediately start the process of leasing out the 14 tea gardens was issued by Chief Minister, Gogoi after two separate meetings with the State Legislature Forum of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and officials of the Commerce Ministry here.

The Chief Minister...

GUWAHATI, May 4 ? Chairman of Assam Tea Planters? Association (ATPA), O P Chokhani has called for radical change in tea pricing system allowing the producers to fix the prices of their product instead of the buyers. Addressing the 65th annual general meeting of the ATPA at Gymkhana Club, Jorhat yesterday, Sri Chokhani pointed out the wide difference between the price paid by consumers in retail market and the price received by the producers. He said in the current practice although consumers were being forced to pay more for their cup of tea, traders were denying reasonable prices to the...

DIBRUGARH, May 2 ? India?s leading tea buyer and manufacturer, Hindustan Lever has begun to react to the unprecedented gloom in the tea industry. At least eight of the company?s senior most managers at the Doom Dooma India estates have been shown the door with a golden handshake. Panicky executives of the company are tight lipped over the matter, lest they too come in the line of fire. All the senior managers who were made to go into retirement were to retire by December 2004 or earlier. These senior tea planters do not have much to complain, as they are anyway receiving their normal retiring...

GUWAHATI, April 30 ? Regretting that Assam has not been getting its due share in forms of royalty on crude oil and natural gas, the all-party delegation of Assam Assembly led by Speaker Prithibi Majhi today submitted a memorandum to Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik at New Delhi demanding fixation of royalty on crude oil on the basis of international market price. This was stated in an official release.

Stating that enhancement of royalty on crude oil on an adhoc basis has caused irreparable loss to the State Government which was already reeling under a financial crisis...