Politics / Assam

GUWAHATI, May 24 ? A tussle between the State Government and the HUDCO over the conditions of loan repayment has led to the inordinate delay in completion of the much publicised HUDCO-sponsored Rs 96-crore Guwahati Metropolitan Area Storm Drainage Improvement Programme. The programme was launched in December 1999 and was scheduled for completion by March 2002.

Four State Government Departments, viz, PWD, Irrigation, Flood Control and the Town and Country Planing, are engaged in the implementation of the programme and the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is the nodal agency...

GUWAHATI, May 24 ? State Forest Department has cleared about 2000 hectares of forest land in and around Guwahati in addition of large areas cleared of encroachers in the rest of the State in the on-going eviction drive launched on May 7 last. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), KN Dev Goswami today told newsmen here that the department is committed and bound by Supreme Court directive to clear all forest areas in the State from the clutch of encroachers.

Conservator of Forest (Central and Western Assam), D Haraprasad informed that since May 7 till today 2000 hectares of land...

NEW DELHI, May 23 ? In a significant development, Government of India today entered into a ceasefire pact with the United Peoples Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) for a year. This is the second militant group of Assam to opt for a ceasefire agreement with the Union Government. The latest ceasefire pact is likely to bring some respite for Assam Government in restoring peace in Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills districts. The NSCN (I-M) backed outfit had unleashed a reign of terror in the two districts, escalating tensions. As reported earlier by this newspaper, a section of the UPDS was engaged...

GUWAHATI, May 23 ? ?We have been living here for over 50 years and today all of a sudden we have become homeless because of the Government?s eviction drive. This is despite the fact that we have been paying taxes for eksania land for all these years?, Sri Rojen Marak of Garobasti Kalapani lamented as his house was razed to the ground along with those 30-odd families in the area today.

The Garobasti area presented a very gloomy picture. The people, including children and infants, were left stranded in the rain with whatever little belongings they had exposed to the elements. ?Even now, we...

GUWAHATI, May 23 ? State Minister for Labour and Employment, Rameswar Dhanowar today informed that Assam Government?s efforts to amend the Assam Plantation Labour Rules were yet to get the go-head from the Union Home Ministry. The Ministry said since the Act in this context, Plantation Labour Act, 1951, was a Central Act, to amend its provisions by any state government required permission from the Home Ministry. Talking to newsmen here today, Sri Dhanowar said the present Government was yet to take any initiative to either rectify or enforce the recommendation on minimum wages for tea workers...

DIBRUGARH, May 22 ? Family members and friends of the senor leader of the outlawed ULFA, Tapan Baruah alias Madan Das today took charge of the body at the Assam Medical College here. The family members, accompanied by others from Tapan?s native Balikuchi village near Nalbari arrived here in a bus. The body was taken to Tinsukia this afternoon in connection with some legal formalities, before being transported to Nalbari. Tapan?s elder brother, Biren Das completed the formalities. Biren, a grocery shop owner, said Tapan was the fourth in the family?s six siblings, which included five sons and a...

GUWAHATI, May 21 ? The leaders and cadres of the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) are totally disillusioned and frustrated at the delay in finding an amicable solution to the Bodo problem and the ongoing peace talks may head towards an uncertain future if the Central and the state governments fail to take immediate steps regarding formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). Talking to The Assam Tribune today, the BLT publicity secretary, Sri Mainao Daimary said that all members of the BLT are now totally frustrated over the attitude of the Central and state governments. He pointed out...

GUWAHATI, May 20 ? The Finance Minister Sri Devanand KoNwar today presented a grim financial position of the State and admitted that it would be difficult for the State Government to pay salaries to the employees without assistance from the Centre. Addressing a press conference today, Sri Konwar said that the debt burden of the State, which was Rs 10,600 crore when the present Government assumed office a year back, now stands at Rs 11,351 crore. The overdraft position of the State shot up the Rs 1300 crore at the beginning of this month and it now stands at Rs 700 crore.

The Finance Minister...

GUWAHATI, May 20? Tea gardens are encroaching upon more than 25,000 bighas of government land, resulting in huge loss of revenue to the State Government, said the Minister in charge of Finance, Revenue and Power, Sri Devanand Konwar. Addressing a press conference here today, Sri Konwar revealed that the Government has taken a decision to regularise the encroachment by giving settlement to the concerned gardens with the payment of a premium, which would be 200 per cent more than the assessed market value. He said that some big tea companies have already come forward to take settlement of...

GUWAHATI, May 19 ? The State government has chalked out a four-phase plan for the rehabilitation of the people displaced from their homes in the ethnic riots in Kokrajhar district in 1996 and 1998, and the process to rehabilitation is scheduled to start in the first part of June. Talking to The Assam Tribune today, the Kokrajhar Deputy Commissioner, Dr A K Bhutani said that at present about 1,80,000 persons belonging to 33,000 families are living in 54 relief camps in the district and the State government has decided to release Rs 2 crore a month for the rehabilitation of the affected...