Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today asked Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to come out with a ‘White Paper’ on the works done by the Centre for Assam in its tenure so far.
In a statement here, Gogoi asked Sonowal to come out with a fact-sheet on what the BJP-led NDA government has done for Assam “instead of unleashing a misinformation campaign against the state government.”
Gogoi said the state government would publish within a fortnight the slew of development initiatives taken by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 10 years tenure of the UPA government.
“The BJP must also come out with a fact-sheet as to what the previous and the present BJP-led NDA governments have done for Assam so that people can judge things in proper perspectives,” he said.
Gogoi asked Sonowal to come out with the exact allocation of funds for Assam on floods and erosion, MGNREGA, IAY and other development schemes.
“Not to speak of special central assistance, the state is yet to receive a single penny under the National Disaster Response Fund, except Rs 430.97 crore as central share of the SDRF in 2014-15, which is due to every state,” he said, adding, Sonowal did not exert pressure on the Centre to release the due funds to the state.
Gogoi said the Centre was yet to release Rs 1,000 crore for the flood management programme.
“Though Sonowal is very vocal criticising the state government on different issues, he always maintains a stoic silence when it comes to raising the issues at the highest level. He took a mute stand in this regard during a meeting of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with the Chief Ministers of North Eastern states in July this year.
“He is keener on appeasing the central leaders to keep his gaddi (seat) intact rather than serving the interests of the state and its people,” Gogoi said.
Sonowal and the state BJP leaders have been unleashing a misinformation campaign against the state government to divert people’s attention from the party’s ‘U- turns’ on major electoral promises, he added.