Centre To Meet Assams Security Expenses

Gujral promises separate industrial policy for N-E n Assam seeks Rs 1,000cr for building new capital

Prime Minister I K Gujral yesterday said that the Centre would meet the security-related expenditure of the Assam government as fighting militancy and insurgency was the responsibility of the entire country. Besides, the Union government is working out a separate industrial policy for the North-East, he said.

Gujral said at a press conference that the Assam government would be given 100 per cent exemption from payment of charges in respect of deployment of central para-military forces in the state from April 1, 1996. Gujral also announced that a separate industrial policy for the north eastern region was being formulated keeping in view the needs of the area. The draft policy had already been discussed with the governments of the region and the new policy would be announced shortly, Gujral said.

 

Referring to the gas cracker project in Assam, he said the outstanding issues of additional gas and gas separation plant had been resolved and the Centre decided to hand over the separation plant to the project authority at a price to be determined by a committee. Last year Rs 100 crore was released as additional fund for the Numaligarh refinery and adequate funds were also being tied up for completion of the project on schedule by December 1998, Gujral said.

Meanwhile, the Assam government has demanded a Rs 1,000 crore Central assistance for the construction of a permanent capital at Dispur.

In a memorandum submitted on Monday night during a meeting with Prime Minister I K Gujral, Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta pointed out that the state had been pleading with the Centre for adequate central assistance for the project. He said the Centre had provided only Rs 60 crore for the construction of the secretariat building on the recommendations of the 10th Finance Commission.

Recalling that former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, during a seven-day visit to the state in October last, had promised formulation of an industrial policy specific to the north eastern states by March 1997, Mahanta urged Gujral to expedite the declaration of the policy. Besides reiterating the state governments plea with the Centre to initiate dialogue with the insurgent outfits, the Chief Minister said: Our problems are many, while our resources are too meagre.

Mahanta demanded reimbursement of additional expenditure incurred by the state government of security-related measures from 1990-91 onwards and central assistance for relief and rehabilitation of arson victim families in the districts of Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon. The state government also wanted the Centre to revise the royalty of crude oil for the block period 1993-96 based on actual cost of production and fixation of revised royalty rates for 1996-99 effective from April 1, 1996.

The state government also wanted to implement the Rs 6,100 crore economic package announc- ed by Gowda government in last October.

With a view to dealing with the problem of educated unemployment, the state government urged the Centre to have a special recruitment drive by the army, central para-military forces and various central civil organisations.

A delegation of the forum of regional political parties from Nagaland, Manipur and Assam also called on the Prime Minister last night and apprised him of the problems faced by their respective states.

The delegation of the leaders consisting of former Nagaland chief minister Vamuzo and former Manipur Chief Minister R K Ranbir Singh also pleaded with the Prime Minister for time-bound implementation of the projects under the economic package announced by the Centre in October last.