Economy / Assam

GUWAHATI, Feb 16 –The State Government, in exercise of powers conferred by the Essential Service Maintenance (Assam) Act, 1980 has prohibited any strike by the employees of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) in the interest of public service with immediate effect and will remain in force for a period of six month. Meanwhile the 72-hour statewide strike of ASEB workers called by the Joint Action Committee of ASEB employees began from 6 am today with hundreds of picketeers abstaining themselves from work at various places. According to a release of the committee, over one hundred agitators...

GUWAHATI, Feb 11 – Opening up of all the trade routes with the neighbouring countries, particularly reopening of the Stilwell Road was the main thrust of the presentation of the Minister of State for Home and Industries, Sri Pradyut Bordoloi in the South East Asia trade conference held at Dhaka recently under the Kunming Initiative. In his speech in the inaugural session of the conference, Sri Bordoloi said that along with the Moreh-Tamu-Kalmeyo road, stress should be given on reopening of the Stilwell Road connecting Ledo in Assam to Kunming in China, covering vast areas of Myanmar to boost...

NEW DELHI, Feb 6 –Assam has defaulted in securing release of the second instalment of majority of the rural development schemes, even as only 22 days remain for the states to submit proposals and utilisation certificates for fresh allocation of Central funds in the current financial year. No release of funds for different programmes would henceforth take place in the month of March, Union Rural Development Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu said here today, addressing a press conference. This decision is designed to resolve the problem of large opening balances in the month of April, since it is not...

GUWAHATI, Feb 4 : The State government has entrusted the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Assam, with the job of investigating into the large-scale financial irregularities in the Assam Livestock and Poultry Corporation. This was disclosed by the Veterinary Minister, Sri Hem Prakash Narayan today. Addressing a press conference here today, Sri Narayan said that a case has also been registered with the vigilance and anti-corruption branch of the Assam police in this regard.

Sri Narayan said that large-scale financial irregularities over the years have crippled the corporation. He expressed the...

NEW DELHI, Feb 4— The Rural Development Ministry has released funds to the tune of over Rs 37.51 crore under two schemes including drinking water scheme to Assam. A spokesman of the Ministry here this evening announced the decision to release Rs 21.72 crore to eight districts of Assam under the National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) during the current financial year (2001-2002). Of these, six districts including Karimganj (Rs. 25.89 lakh), Morigaon (Rs. 19.43 lakh), Nalbari (Rs. 32.38 lakh), Dibrugarh (Rs. 33.18 Lakh), Karbi Anglong (Rs. 24.29 lakh) and Tinsukia (Rs. 32.38 lakh) would be...

GUWAHATI, Jan 24 — The Committee on Fiscal Reforms (COFR) has suggested that sanction of grants-in-aid to the State’s colleges and universities should be made contingent on the adherence to the University Grants Commission (UGC) by the colleges and universities concerned and that such grants to these institutions should be reduced at the rate of ten per cent each year, for the next five years. The COFR has also called for steps to facilitate attainment of self-sufficiency by the institutions of higher learning so that the State Government’s financial commitments to these institutions can be...

DIBRUGARH, Jan 23 — Concerned at last year’s lowest-ever green leaf prices of tea, the All Assam Small Tea growers’ Association has decided to resort to desperate measures to ensure an honourable price for their produce. According to the association’s secretary Hemanta Kumar Gohain, bought leaf factory owners as well as the organised tea sector is being approached to ask them to buy quality green leaf from the small growers on an area to area basis. The association also wants to get rid of the green leaf agents, “who are eating away” into the profits of the tea growers. These agents earn...

GUWAHATI, Jan 22— The Committee on Fiscal Reforms (COFR) has identified 16 State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for immediate disinvestment for their ‘accumulating huge losses, eroding their net worth completely and leaving no economic relevance under the present scenario’. It also called for disbanding of four PSUs. The PSUs which are named for immediate disinvestment, include STATFED, Assam State Textile Corporation, Assam State Weaving and Manufacturers Corporation, Cachar Sugar Mills Ltd., Assam Spun Silk Mills Ltd, State Fertiliser & Chemicals Ltd, Assam Polytex Ltd, Assam Syntex Ltd...

GUWAHATI, Jan 18— Over the years the outstanding debt of the State Government has grown enormously and the problem of indebtedness has taken a menacing shape. The total debt stock of the State Government, which was Rs 733.34 crore in 1980-81, increased to Rs 10,013.12 crore by 2000-01. The share of total debt stock in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which was 29 per cent, reached the peak of 41 per cent in 1990-91 and thereafter declined to 24 per cent in 1995-96, but rose to 33 per cent in 2000-01, said the Committee On Fiscal Reforms (COFR) in its report. State Government’s loans from...

GUWAHATI, Jan 17 — The rising trend of revenue expenditure vis-a-vis falling trend of capital expenditure and the rising trend of revenue expenditure out of a total plan expenditure, as revealed by the time series since 1990-91, point to the fact that investment in capital formation have been falling over the years in the State. As a direct consequence of this, economic growth in the State has been stunted and neither wealth nor income nor employment have increased at the required or the expected rates. This is unfortunate, said the Committee on fiscal Reforms (COFR) in its December 7, 2001...