The outlawed ULFA’s demand for dialogue on sovereignty is the main hurdle in the peace process though the Government is willing to release the five ULFA leaders languishing in jail, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said this here today. In the capital to participate in the Fifth State of the State Conclave 2007 organised by India Today Group, the Chief Minister said the State Government was willing to release the detained leaders, but ruled out the possibility of any discussion on the ‘core demand’ of sovereignty.
Assam was adjudged the fastest growing State in the country and its ranking is down to 14 from 16, according to a study conducted by the organisers. Assam was found to have reduced poverty by 21 per cent, according to the study. The State was awarded for best overall performance and it shared another award with Himachal Pradesh for reducing poverty.
The Chief Minister who received the award from Vice-President, Hamid Ansari, said the Government of India was willing to talk. They are not prepared to come for unconditional talks and are raising demands for release of leaders and sovereignty. “Our doors are still open,” he told newspersons on the sidelines of the conclave.
The Chief Minister traced the current deadlock to ULFA’s adamant stand. “The Government of India had even unilaterally suspended operations against them,” he reiterated.
However, they recruited cadres, extorted money and started amassing arms and weapons during the period leading to breakdown of the peace process.
Gogoi further clarified that the Government was not interested to talk with People’s Consultative Group and prefers direct negotiations with the outfit.
On the factors responsible for economic growth of the State, the Chief said it was because of the focus on rural development, education and industrialisation. The State Government has set aside Rs 300 crore for rural area development. Insurgency, lack of communication linkages, perennial floods have held back the development of Assam, he said.
“You cannot wait for normalcy to return before taking up development works. Development must go on,” he said.
The whole State has suffered because of agitations, lack of communications, connectivity, he said.
He said the economy of the State has started to look up with investments pouring in. There is a construction boom taking place in the State, he said.
Earlier, taking part in a discussion, the Chief Minister said the State Government would encourage national institutions to set up branches in the region.
The conclave was attended by Chief Ministers of various States including Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Uttarankhand, among others. The conclave was inaugurated by Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram.
Addressing the function, Vice-President Ansari said India had a real GDP growth of 9.4 per cent for 2006-07 and an exchange rate per capita GDP of $880; in Purchasing Power Parity terms, the per capita GDP climbed to around $ 4000. “Our savings and investment rates have increased, there was a gross FDI inflow of $19.5 billion in 2006-07 and good reasons exist to believe that there have been productivity and efficiency improvements,” he said.
“We have a situation where the richest 10 per cent of the population account for slightly less than 30 per cent of the share of expenditure and the poorest 10 per cent of the population account for less than 5 per cent. Thus overall economic growth of the country has not yet translated itself into fair distribution of the fruits of development. Wealth accumulation at the top has been more impressive than poverty reduction at the bottom.
