GUWAHATI, May 17 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the Centre should apply the same principles to bring the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to the negotiating table as it had done in the case of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) in Nagaland. Speaking at a ?Meet the Press? programme at the Guwahati Press Club, the Chief Minister said he had all along been telling the Centre to tackle the ULFA problem on the lines of its policy on the NSCN (I-M).
He also inaugurated the Press Club website www.guwahatipressclub.com prior to his speech. While reiterating that he was committed to providing the people with a transparent, accountable, responsive and efficient Government, Sri Gogoi cited some achievements of his government on the eve of its completion of one year tomorrow. He said the Government has given top priority to rural development and accordingly, various schemes are under way to give a boost to the rural economy. He also said peaceful holding of the Panchayat polls which witnessed a turnout of over 74 per cent voters, was a major success of the Government.
On the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) issue, he said the rights of the non-Bodo people living in the area will be protected through an amendment to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Regarding the boundary demarcation he said it should be such that all the parties concerned should accept it. When asked what he was doing to ensure shifting of tea headquarters to the State, he said ?We can only persuade them to come here, but cannot force them.? When his attention was drawn to the fact that although the Government had instituted inquiries into various incidents (e.g. killing of a youth by CRPF in the city), but nothing concrete comes out of it, Sri Gogoi said ?we can take action only after receiving the inquiry report.?
Asserting that good governance can be possible only through people?s empowerment and their participation in the implementation of policies, Sri Gogoi said that the Raijor Padulit Raijor Sarkar had met with tremendous response from the people. ?This is evident from the fact that the administration has received over 12 lakh petitions highlighting their grievances,? he added. He also said that there had been a marked improvement in revenue collection to the tune of Rs 160 crore after his Government came to power.
?We have been able to bring more Central funds for development works because of proper utilisation, and our sincerely and commitment,? he said. He also stressed the need for a employment oriented education policy for the State. Answering another query, Sri Gogoi denied that there had been any division of funds to pay salary to the employees. Sri Gogoi concluded by saying that one year is too short a time to fulfil all the commitments made by the government. He asserted that the next four years would see more intense efforts from the Government to keep its promises.