By IANS,
Guwahati : As the Congress-led coalition government in Assam completed two years in power, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi pledged that in the next three years the administration will bring about rapid development and a marked improvement on the insurgency front.
“Assam has made giant strides in all fronts with the pace of development visible from roads to sectors like health, education, and human resources,” the chief minister told IANS.
The coalition government, in which the Congress and the Bodo People’s Front (BPF) are partners, completed two years in office Sunday.
Gogoi said the next three years of the present term would see Assam transforming itself, with development and performance being the key mantra.
“I have asked all my ministers to work hard and make Assam prosperous,” Gogoi said.
As part of mega plans for the remaining years of the present term, the chief minister announced a whopping Rs.15 billion development package for the state, besides promising to give jobs to an estimated 100,000 people.
“These are not mere promises. We shall translate them into realities,” Gogoi said.
Stressing on sectors like education, the chief minister announced a grant of Rs.1 million each to all schools that have completed a century, besides creating a corpus of Rs.50 million for meritorious students to pursue higher education.
“Scholarships are now being given to 50,000 students and we have decided to double the number in the next three years. Education is important for overall development of the state and I am happy that boys and girls from the state are doing well,” Gogoi said.
As part of the sops announced, the chief minister offered free mobile telephones to village heads or gaonburahs.
“The gaonburahs would be immensely benefited by the cell phones as they would be in a position to communicate with officials and ministers directly and help in expediting development projects in their areas,” Gogoi said.
The chief minister also laid stress on the health sector.
“Pregnant women coming from poor families will now get Rs.1,000 for nutrition, besides Rs.5,000 as fixed deposit for every girl child born in families that are below the poverty line,” Gogoi said.
The law and order situation still remains a critical area for the government with militancy showing no signs of abating.
“There were violent incidents no doubt, but the government has been able to restore semblance of peace in the state with the overall mood set for development and people openly rejecting all forms of violence,” the chief minister said.
“Unlike in the past, people now feel safe and even move around late in the night. Earlier, people were scared to venture out after dusk.”