State facing financial crunch

By Barun Das Gupta

GUWAHATI, OCT. 11. The Assam Chief Minister, Mr. Tarun Gogoi, admitted today that no development work for the State could be taken up without the Centre coming to the aid of the State in a big way. He assured, however, that the salary for the five lakh State Government employees would be paid in a day or two.

He was talking to mediapersons here on the eve of the launching tomorrow of a week-long campaign ``Raijor Padulit Raijor Sarkar'' (government at people's doorstep). The cash-strapped State has not been able to pay the August salary to 40 per cent of its employees while the salary for September is also due. The two together will come to about Rs. 542 crore. Mr. Gogoi knows that the situation could become explosive if the salary could not be paid before the Pujas, just ten days away.

That is his biggest headache at the moment. Mr. Gogoi had tentatively decided to expand his Cabinet by the middle of this month, but this has now become contingent on the payment of salary.

Sources close to Mr. Gogoi said that every Minister costs the State about Rs. 5 lakh per month, or Rs. 60 lakh per year. ``How can new ministers be appointed while the employees go without their salary ?'', they said.

Yesterday Mr. Gogoi dispatched his Finance Minister, Mr. Devananda Konwar, to Delhi to persuade the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, to loosen the Centre's pursestrings for Assam.

Briefly, the financial situation of the State is like this: the minimum monthly expenditure of the State is about Rs. 650 crore. Of this, the wage bill accounts for Rs. 392 crore and debt- servicing another Rs. 150 crore. The State's own tax and non-tax revenue in 1999-2000 was Rs. 1670 crore, or just about Rs. 140 crore per month.

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Section  : Other States
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