GUWAHATI: Congress has praised Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government for its crackdown on drug peddlers and cow smugglers on the completion of one month.
However, it questioned the integrity of the previous Sarbananda Sonowal government to curb anti-social activities in its five-year tenure.
“In this one month of the BJP government, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is seen trying very hard to build his image as being strict on issues of drug peddling and cow smuggling which is no doubt praiseworthy,” said chairperson of the media department of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Bobbeeta Sharma.
She, however, questioned, “What was the BJP government doing in its first term? Why did the government did not crack the whip on drug peddlers and cow smugglers like they are doing now? She said the BJP government in Assam is technically five years and one month old and that only the captain of the government has changed.
On the development agenda, Congress came down heavily on the BJP rule as Assam has been ranked among the worst-performing states in Niti Ayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index.
Congress said this very fact, as determined by the Niti Ayog, is proof of BJP government’s poor performance in Assam.
“In Good Health and Gender Equality, Assam’s score is 28th and we are all aware that the present CM was also the health minister of Assam.
He was also the longest serving education minister and today, Assam is at the bottom in education as per a central government report published by the Union education minister.
But the CM has not uttered a single word on the Niti Ayog report nor on the education report,” Sharma said.
Congress also sniffed a backdoor attempt to implement the CAA through the direction of the Government of India to the state government to “disseminate information regarding grant of citizenship to migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who hold Long Term Visas.” “It’s a conspiracy to nullify the NRC.
Without a proper NRC how can Assam grant citizenship to any migrant? This is total betrayal of the people of Assam and disregard of the Assam Accord,” added Sharma.
Congress has urged the government to make vaccine registration policy easier so that it can include all those who do not have mobile phones for Co-WIN registration.
“People have faced great difficulty in getting registered for vaccination over mobile phones.
Moreover, Covid deaths in Assam have increased manifold in the second wave,” the opposition party said.
Congress has further demanded expansion of the frontline workers category to include taxi-drivers, rickshaw pullers, domestic helps, delivery boys, medicine shops and grocery shop workers, vegetable vendors, petrol pump workers and electricians for priority vaccination.
“There has been great loss to working class people and small and medium businesses.
The government must have an economic package for them,” Sharma said, further urging the government to have a more humanistic approach during Covid times.
Congress also opposed the recent eviction drives in Sipajhar and Hojai and appealed to the government to make alternate rehabilitation arrangements for the landless.