Guwahati, Feb 13 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today requested Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to include several projects for the state in the forth coming rail budget for the year 2011-12.
Gogoi sent a letter to Banerjee for new lines for strengthening the railway infrastructure in the North Eastern region and Assam, including a new line from Salona to Kumtai and Jorhat to Sivasagar.
He also urged for a transport corridor along the south bank of the Brahmaputra, building of the six km Tirap-Lekhapani railway line for efficient and economical access to the Lekhapani coal mines to feed the upcoming 750 MW Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (BTPS) of NTPC at Salakati in Kokrajhar district and double tracking of railway line stretch between New Bongaigaon and Kamakhya via Goalpara to decongest the present railway line.
The chief minister also demanded a new railway line from Silghat to Tezpur with a railway bridge for strategic reasons and gauge conversion of the only meter gauge stretch between Baraigram and Durlabcherra.
Gogoi requested Banerjee to declare these infrastructure as ''national projects'' for ensuring smooth fund flow.
Rourkela, Feb 12 (PTI) Aditya Bora, Assam cadre central committee member of ULFA and two of his associates, were today arrestd by security forces during joint combing operation in Saranda forest bordering Orissa-Jharkhand, police said.Huge quantity of explosives, Maoist literature and posters were seized from their possesion, they said.Joint combing operation has been intensified after an encounter with the Maoists near Saranda forests yesterday in which three hardcore Maoists, including Area Commander Mohammed Musleem, were gunned down.The combing operation continued in the dense Saranda forests and three ULFA militants were arrested, they said.Initial reports said Bora and his associates were giving arms training to the local Maoists. All three were taken to an undisclosed place for interrogation.Three ultras who were gunned down yesterday, besides Musleem of Jareikela under Bisra police station, were identified as Susanta Mahanto of Jharbeda under Bisra police station and Nepali Bhumi of Makanda under Manoharpur police station of Jharkhand.All the three bodies were handed over to their family after postmortem.Meanwhile, the body of surrendered woman maoist Kanduri Lohar and her four-year old son, who were killed by the Maoists earlier in the day, were brought to Bisra for post-mortem.
GUWAHATI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Friday highlighted the state government's failure to submit last year's financial report of many departments within March 31.
The Assam Power Distribution Company, along with planning, health, social service and education department besides the district commissioner's office of NC Hills, have topped the list of departments having financial anomalies.
Addressing the media in the city, principal account general Mukesh P Singh pointed out Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd's (APDC) failure to take appropriate action which resulted in accumulation of arrears of Rs 4.07 crore which remained unrealized.
"Non-deployment of adequate staff by the APDC led to non-utilization of power lines and sub-stations for over a period of two and half years as well as blockade of funds of Rs 1.97 crore. Moreover, irregular implementation of single-point power supply scheme by APDC led to non-realization of Rs 87.24 lakh," said Singh.
The CAG also recommended the public distribution system here to run a proper survey to ascertain the actual number of households/beneficiaries in the state. "Foodgrain was provided to APL beneficiaries in the state even without ration cards. The department should streamline the issue of ration cards, including retrieving of unauthorized ration cards, to check diversion of commodities to open market," he added.
On the NC Hills financial scam, the CAG cited that the DC, NC Hills drew Rs 20 lakh by reconverting deposits at call receipts but did not take it into government account, resulting in misappropriation of funds.
Failure to conduct necessary checks in accordance with the financial rules as drawing and disbursing officer led to an anomaly of Rs. 1.26 crore in NC Hills, added Singh. On Karbi Anglong, the CAG said the District Rural Development Agency made payment for materials against fictitious certificates of receipt of materials, which resulted in fraudulent payment of Rs 26.29 lakh. "The project Director incurred unauthorized expenditure of Rs 93.43 lakh," he added. According to the CAG, 15 departments in the state have huge financial anomalies, including health and education department, where the anomalies were higher.
Guwahati, Feb 12 : Assam will have to spend over Rs 1100 crore and recruit nearly 1.10 lakh teachers if it wants to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act in true spirit at the primary education level.
Hitting out at the state government’s alleged apathy towards the education sector, particularly the primary section, teachers’ and students’ bodies today pointed to a myriad of hurdles that have to be negotiated before the RTE Act can actually benefit the students.
The decision to rearrange classes by including class five in Lower Primary and class eight in Middle School category came under severe criticism.
Addressing a press meet a day after a meeting of teachers’ bodies and All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), AASU president Shankar Ray said the decision to rearrange the classes was passed on December 31 last and had to be implemented from January 1, without the ground work being done.
''When the RTE Act was signed, it was promised that all infrastructure would be ready in six months. But almost a year on, nothing is ready,'' he said.
The teachers’ bodies informed that the state has at least 7,425 single-teacher schools and an additional 4600 two-teacher schools.
Considering that a primary school must have at least six teachers, the state education sector has requirement of additional 1,10,219 teachers.
The cost towards building of extra class-rooms and procurement of desk-benches and blackboards would amount to about Rs 1161 crore.
The joint forum of teachers and students announced of staging a demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawan on February 15 pressing for their demands of resolution of problems facing the education sector.
The resolutions of yesterday’s meeting will also be forwarded to the Chief Minister and education minister today.
One of the most violent separatist movements in the country has been persuaded to call it a day, and the credit for this has to be shared widely. A preliminary round of discussions has been held between the United Liberation Front of Asom and the central government after the militant group agreed to unconditional talks. Previously, ULFA held firm to the condition that talks must include its demand of sovereignty for Assam. Over the last year, it has evolved politically to realise that this pre-condition was unrealistic. Its own military and political position had been rendered precarious by a combination of factors. Not only did it suffer reverses in operations by Indian security forces, Bangladesh and Bhutan made it clear that ULFA leaders and cadres could no longer seek safe haven on their soil. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has to be thanked for handing over a clutch of ULFA leaders hiding in her country. For their part, the people of Assam made known that they were put off by the group's violent methods that led to the death of hundreds of civilians. All this was instrumental in helping ULFA see the futility of its war against India. A statement issued by the group following the first round of talks in New Delhi suggests it has given up the idea of secession. ULFA now believes it is possible to find ways for the “protection and enrichment of the sovereignty of the people of Assam” within the Indian Constitution. The leaders of the group have also apologised for killing civilians, describing as “mistakes” the 1997 murder of social activist Sanjay Ghose and the 2004 bomb blast in which several children lost their lives.
The central government must be commended for the firm but open-minded way in which it has dealt with the Assam militancy in recent times. The agenda for the talks, which should take place in the next few months, is yet to be settled. Clearly, the two sides will talk about rehabilitation of ULFA cadres, as also lifting the ban on the group. After giving up its demand for independence, ULFA needs some time to reformulate its political goals and enter the democratic mainstream. The people of Assam have long-held grievances — the State's economic underdevelopment, the presence of large numbers of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, and the feeling of being done out of a just share of revenue from tea and oil. Indeed, had the Centre paid timely attention to these issues, ULFA might never have come up. They will need to be addressed for a permanent peace in the State. The continued hold-out by ULFA's military wing leader Paresh Barua, who is still on the run and has pledged his opposition to the talks, poses a challenge. It is to be hoped that the force of public opinion in favour of talks will compel him to change his mind.
Guwahati, Feb 12:Tribal insurgent outfits have stepped up pressure on the Assam government for their leaders' release from jail, peeved over the perceived priority being accorded to freeing leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) for facilitating peace talks. Pointing out that there is more to militancy in the state than the Ulfa, the rebel outfits are unwilling to wait.
The Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) group (better known as the 'Black Widow') for instance, has threatened a return to the "bad old days" from February 15 if its chairman Jewel Garlossa and commander-in-chief Niranjan Hojai are not freed. The outfit had laid down arms in October 2009.
"We want our leaders released or Dima Hasao (formerly North Cachar Hills) will burn from the morning of February 15. For starters, we will not allow trains to run besides disrupting work on the East-West Corridor," DHD-J vice-chairman Peipring Dimasa said on Thursday. "The government should learn not to be partial to any group."
The DHD-J had shot to notoriety by blowing up trains and carrying out an ethnic cleansing in which more than 350 people were killed, prior to Garlossa's arrest from Bangalore in June 2009.
The group's nexus with politicians and bureaucrats leading to diversion of development funds was the first assignment of the National Investigation Agency. The National Democratic Front of Boroland has also demanded the release of its chairman Ranjan Daimary, a prime accused in the October 30, 2008, serial blasts that killed 92 persons. To show intent, the outfit abducted six World Wide Fund for Nature volunteers last Sunday. It freed three of them — all women — on Tuesday.
A senior home department officer denied being partial to the Ulfa. "We are accommodative and looking into everything case by case," he said.
GUWAHATI: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi has described his second term as the best days the state has seen in terms of development since Independence. He also dubbed the two terms of AGP under the leadership of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta as the "darkest chapter" in Assam's history.
"The last five years of our government is the best period in the history of Assam as far as development is concerned. And this has been possible be-cause of unstinted help and support from all sections of people," he said here on Thursday. The chief minister added that various scams plagued the state during Mahanta's two terms in office.
Gogoi said the present government would leave behind a whopping amount for the next government to carry out development in contrast to the empty government coffer he had inherited from the previous AGP government when he took over in 2001. He claimed that Congress will once again form the next government in May after the assembly elections.
He described his first term form 2001 to 2006 as "difficult". "That period was challenging. There was financial deficit and law and order was bad. No one wanted to buy land here. Nobody wanted to invest here. By 2003, the situation slightly improved and today the financial position is strong and there is great improvement in law and order," he said.
The chief minister added that when he started his first term, he had received the 11th Finance Commission Award of Rs13,280 crore finalized by the previous AGP government. "The next government will get a staggering Rs 57,832.70 crore from the 13th Finance Commission," Gogoi said.
He said chaos and mayhem reigned supreme when Congress took over the reins prior to May 2001. "There was total lawlessness with the militants calling the shots. There was huge flight of capital. The economy of the state was in the red. The government exchequer was almost empty and there was a deficit of Rs 500 crore. We had to bear a loan amount of a whopping Rs 2000 crore. The situation prior to 2001 is no longer there because our government has initiated a slew of schemes and projects on all fronts, which have had brought about a remarkable economic turn-around and hastened the process of development which had come to a grinding halt prior to May 2001," Gogoi added.
He said there was despair and despondency all around during AGP regime and a sense of insecurity had gripped the people. "But today, there has been a sea change in development. The state is witnessing an upsurge on the economic front with investors flocking to Assam," he added.
Guwahati, Feb 11 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today requested the Centre to take steps to review the recent Supreme Court''s judgement that supporters of any banned organisation are not punishable by law.
"The judgement will have serious consequences and encourage anti-Indian and secessionist forces in the days to come," Gogoi told reporters here.
In such a case, it will be very difficult to maintain the law-and-order situation and "I think this verdict by the apex court calls for a review", he said.
The Supreme Court had recently passed an order stating that being merely a member of a banned organisation is not punishable unless there is clinching evidence of the person's direct involvement in any violent incident.
Gogoi's remarks comes in the backdrop of banned ULFA's unconditional talks with the Centre. Assam has been hit by decades of insurgency before the ULFA could be brought to the negotiating table.
The chief minister criticised the Opposition parties in the state for disrupting the proceedings in the just-concluded session terming it as "unfortunate and uncalled for".
"The opposition got ample opportunity to pin down the government on the issue of North Cachar Hills funds diversion scam but they adopted an escapist attitude which cannot be understood by the people of Assam," Gogoi said.
Taking a dig at Leader of Opposition Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, he said the former chief minister has no right to criticise the government.
"Mahanta is the only chief minister to be issued charge sheet by CBI in the history of Assam. He as the Leader of the Opposition has actually hatched a conspiracy to safeguard himself on the floor of the house by not allowing a debate on the NC Hills scam," Gogoi said.
Jorhat: The Assam and Nagaland governments have held a district-level meet at Singibeel border outpost in Sivasagar district to discuss encroachment issues in the Geleki Reserve Forest for maintaining peace and harmony in the inter-state boundary areas.
Officials from Assam's Sivasagar and Nagaland's Lungleng districts took part in the meeting that was held on Tuesday.
Deputy commissioner (Sivasagar) J Lahkar said, "We discussed the issue of Naga encroachment in the Geleki forest with officials from Nagaland's Lungleng district. We have asked the officials to take steps for sorting out the issue at the earliest."
"Though the team from Nagaland has requested us to allow cultivation in boundary areas we have refused," he said adding that several amicable decisions were taken up at the meet by both the governments to maintain peace and harmony in the area.
Naga encroachment in the Geleki forest has been on the rise since the last few decades. A group of Naga encroachers, comprising more than 40 armed persons, had taken up an encroachment bid in the forest in December which falls under Nazira sub-division of Sivasagar district.
The group had been cutting down trees in large number in the Singibeel, Mugapara, Borhola and Charaisagia areas under the reserve forest near the police battalion camp in Nazira sub-division. They also destroyed tea gardens along the border and occupied a large part of the forest land.
A senior forest official of the district said, "According to official records, the Geleki Reserve Forest spreads over 6,000 hectare. Out of the total land, the Naga encroachers have already occupied more 4,000 hectare forest lands by various means."
"The encroachment in the reserve forest was started in 1972 and it continued for the last four decades. Recently, the state revenue department and the forest department has jointly started a survey in the reserve forest," he added.
A two-member mediation team, constituted by the Supreme Court, visited the disputed areas along the Assam-Nagaland boundary in Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat district to take stock of the situation in these places on November 17.
On August 20, the apex court had directed the authorities concerned to resolve the decade-old issue through mediation and a two-judge bench of the court ordered constitution of a penal comprising the two mediators.
Earlier, Assam home commissioner Jishnu Boruah also visited the trouble-torn border areas in Sivasagar district on September 9. Boruah, who was accompanied by border director Bhuban Chandra Bora, visited Namtola, Avoyapur forest, Charaideu, Bihubar and the Geleki Reserve Forest and submitted reports to the government.
Ludhiana: A seven-day training programme on ‘Post Harvest Technology on Rural Catchments’ for participants from SIRD Assam was inaugurated at Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET) in Ludhiana on Wednesday. As many as 15 farmers are taking part in the training programme.
“At present, while consumers are paying high price for processed food, farmers are not able to increase their income. Farmers income could only increased when they would be getting share from consumers expenditure on processed food sold at higher prices in supermarkets,” said CIPHET Director Dr R T Patil and added that shifting of food processing to rural catchments would immensely benefit both farmers as well as consumers.
GUWAHATI: Top ULFA leaders led by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa today met Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and sought his cooperation to take forward the peace process with the Centre.
Rajkhowa and seven other leaders met the Chief Minister at his official residence on the eve of talks with a central team led by Union Home Secretary G K Pillai on Thursday.
Gogoi told reporters after the meeting that this was the first time a Chief Minister had met the ULFA leadership "officially and face-to-face".
"I hope talks with the Centre is successful and they discussed with me how to take the peace process forward", Gogoi said.
Asked whether the ULFA leaders had presented their demands before him, Gogoi said, "They will tell the Centre about their demands".
Rajkhowa told reporters their meeting with the Chief Minister was "primarily a courtesy call before the talks".
"We urged the Chief Minister to speed up the process in New Delhi and sought his cooperation to take the peace process to the next phase. The modalities for the talks have not been worked out so far and will come later", he said.
Besides Rajkhowa, the other leaders of the outfit present in the meeting were Vice Chairman Pradip Gogoi, political advisor Bhimakanta Buragohain, Foreign Secretary Sasha Choudhury, Finance Secretary Chitrabon Hazarika, Cultural Secretary Pranati Deka, Publicity Secretary Mithinga Daimary and Deputy Commander-in Raju Barua.
The ULFA leaders were likely to call upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram though the dates were yet to be fixed.
The ULFA leaders released from jail recently have decided to hold unconditional talks with the government but the faction led by outfit's Commander-in-chief Paresh Barua was opposed to it.
Assam, which is one of the largest consumers of fish in the country and is trying hard to become self sufficient in fish production, recently organised fifth Assam Matsya Mahotsav to promote fish production in the State.
The fish festival was held from January 27-29 at Shilpgram in Guwahati.
The festival brought together national-level institutions, scientists and farmers who are working for a Blue Revolution in Assam.
It promoted fish farming among the youth and aimed at disseminating latest information regarding fish production among farmers.
The main feature of the event was the inauguration of "ANGLING PARK" at the historic NAK-KATA pond in Guwahati. It will also serve as a breeding ground for ornamental fish, which has a growing market in Assam.
Nurjamal Sarkar, Minister Fisheries Department said: "This pond will be beneficial for the people of Guwahati as they can come here and relax. I feel that such kind of facility should be started in every city.
"Our government is helping the youth by providing them loans to start their won fishery business. At this festival people can come learn more about fish farming," said Pulak Banerjee, a resident.
Many seminars and competitions were also organized that were addressed by experts who provided details about latest fish farming technologies.
During the event various stalls selling traditional fish catching equipment were set up for the visitors.
During 2009-10, 2.18 lakh tonnes of fish was produced against the 2.06-lakh tonnes produced during 2008-09.
With a gradual increase in the production of fish, Assam hopes to become self-sufficient in producing fish in the next couple of years. (ANI)
