Assam’s new Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his help to tide over the State’s “precarious” financial condition. During the 20-minute meeting with the PM, Sonowal, conveyed that his Government inherited `10,000 crore liabilities from the previous Congress regime. He also submitted a memorandum and White Paper on the financial position of the State.
“I have informed the Prime Minister about the precarious financial condition of Assam and sought the Central Government’s help to salvage the situation,” Sonowal told reporters after the meeting. The Chief Minister said he has also submitted to the Prime Minister a ‘White Paper’ on the financial condition of the State, which is facing a fund crunch. Sonowal later met Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and sought financial assistance from the Centre to overcome the crisis in Assam.
Sonowal said while the State Government has been shifting focus to augment internal resources without depending on the Central Government alone, the State’s existing “precarious financial position” has necessitated special support from the Centre, more so during the transitional phase.
The Chief Minister told the Prime Minister that his Government has decided to surge ahead with restructuring systems and technology for augmentation of resources for transformed Assam (ReSTART Assam) to mop up maximum possible resources through a coordinated and concerted mission mode
programme with four-pronged action plan viz, rationalise the revenue collection through reforms and restructuring of policy, legislations and administration; mobilising additional resources in a big way through externally aided projects.
“Thinking big is the natural choice of our Government to usher in ‘paribartan’ (change) in the lives of the people of Assam who have given us an unprecedented mandate,” he said. The Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister for financial assistance for infrastructure projects such as roads, river, power and IT as well as service sector.