PTI
GUWAHATI, FEBRUARY 24
Assam has received an awarded for its remarkable improvement in the power sector, particularly in the rural areas.
The state has been conferred the trophy for electrification of 8,348 villages and partial electrification of 12,841 villages, besides registering a rise in consumer base from 9.02 lakh in 2001 to 34 lakh in 2015, a government release said today.
Receiving the ‘The Economic Times Trophy 2015’ award from Union Minister Piyush Goyal at The Economic Times Power Focus 3rd Annual Summit in Delhi last evening, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said, “Some say that no development has taken place in Assam during the last 15 years.
“Today this award stands as a testimony that peace has returned and Assam is on the path of development,” Gogoi was quoted as saying in the release.
The CM said that despite having to grapple with insurgency, economic backwardness and unemployment problem, the state catapulted to the path of growth and development.
“We hear these days about who is a nationalist and who an anti-nationalist. But I had to encounter insurgency vis-a-vis secessionism for long 15 years and to grapple with many problems,” he said.
Raising the peculiar problems of the state, Gogoi said that Assam and the North East region as a whole have to be viewed in different perspectives unlike other parts of the country and need special attention to be on par with developed states of the country.
“The sense of alienation that prevails can be removed only through better understanding of the problems and complexities of Assam and the rest of the North Eastern states. The region as a whole requires special funds to catch up with developed states like Gujarat and Maharashtra,” he said.
Gogoi also said that the “discontinuation of the Special Category Status that was in vogue since 1969 and changing the funding pattern have taken away what the state and the region were getting from the Centre.”
“Removing regional disparity has been the basic principle of our planning. How can Assam and the North East catch up with developed states without special funds from the Centre? I will continue my fight till the state gets back its due rights,” he said.
Harping on cooperative federalism, Gogoi said Modi’s dreams of ‘Acche Din’ can become a reality only if it becomes the dream of a common man.
“I feel PM Modi doesn’t completely trust the people working with him, may be not even all of his ministers,” he said.
Speaking on smart villages, Gogoi said industrialisation will automatically follow suit if the income of rural areas increases.
