GUWAHATI, June 18 – The State Government is yet to establish any direct contact with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for negotiation. However, the banned outfit has expressed its desire for a negotiated settlement of the issues it has raised, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here today. On the preconditions slapped by the militant outfit for talks, the Chief Minister, who was addressing the mediapersons at the Janata Bhawan auditorium this noon, said, “Let us establish the contacts first. We will then think of the conditions slapped by the ULFA”.
When he was confronted with the question as to what was his Government’s approach towards the other militant organisations like the UPDS, he said that his Government was for bringing all the insurgent groups of the State to the negotiating table. The Chief Minister also claimed that there was no large-scale recruitment by the militant outfit, while reacting to a question on the reports of the ULFA recruiting a large number of youths nowadays. “There may be some recruitments made by the outfit as usual, but there was no large-scale recruitment by it,” he said.
Lashing out at the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP he said,“AGP and the Bharatiya Janata Party are doing great disservice to the State by projecting a wrong picture of the state of affairs here. At heart they do not want the State to develop. No investor will come to the State if such projections continue. These parties fail to realise for their own prejudiced approaches, that the situation in Assam has improved a lot,” claimed the Chief Minister.
When pointed out the fact of some SULFA members abducting Numaligarh Refinery Ltd’s officials in the city yesterday, he said that such incidents take place in Delhi and other metropolises of the country every now and then. But for such incidents nobody claims that law-and-order situation in all those places is bad, he said emphatically.
Assam has never in the past about ten years’ time, made such a progress as it is making nowadays, he claimed. To substantiate his claim he said that during the last three years, the annual plan size as well as the NCA and the fund under externally-aided projects had increased. On the other hand, during the same period, total plan post worth Rs 700 crore have been normalised and transferred to non-plan head. The State Government has also increased the quantum of State share against the Centrally-sponsored schemes during the period, to draw more Central funds under the rural development, DPEP and Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission, etc, schemes, he said.
With the introduction of the zero-based budgeting system, the State Government has also been able to clear the way for 280 schemes of the PHE (Piped water supply) and flood control. It has also undertaken a campaign to revive the sick PSUs of the State by introducing the schemes like the VRS and change in method of functioning of the PSUs. During the current year, it has decided to create a Central pool for VRS with Rs 39 crore to continue with the initiative for revival of the PSUs, he said.
Similarly, positive steps have also been taken to increase the allocation of fund under the Prime Minister Gramdoya Yojana (PMGY). Today, Assam is the second State, which has utilised 60 per cent of the available PMGY fund during the 2002-03 fiscal within the month of October. The Union Government has hence released the second instalment to the State under the PMGY, Gogoi claimed.
The flow of fund to the hill areas is also increasing now because of the steps taken by the State Government. The fund for development of the Bodoland Territorial Council areas will also be released from the current year onwards through a single window system, he said.