Sonowal inherits ‘empty treasury’ from previous regime

GUWAHATI: The previous Congress government has apparently left behind an empty treasury to the new BJP government led by Sarbananda Sonowal.
Holding his first cabinet meeting as the chief minister of Assam, Sarbanada Sonowal on Wednesday decided to publish a white paper within 10 days on the sorry state of government finances left behind by the previous Congress government.
Emerging from the cabinet meeting held at Brahmaputra State Guest House here, one of the senior cabinet ministers, Parimal Suklabaidya informed that the cabinet meeting chaired by Sonowal took stock of the financial health of the state government besides discussing other important issues and found that the financial condition of the state government was very bad.
“The cabinet, therefore, decided to bring out a white paper on the precarious financial position of the state government so that people of Assam get to know what the previous Congress government left behind for the new government in respect of financial health,” Suklabaidya said.
The cabinet further called upon all the ministers to encourage austerity measures and asked to ensure that movements of their convoy of vehicles don’t cause inconvenience to the people and vehicular traffic on the road.
Chief Minister Sonowal has decided to reduce the number of vehicles in his convoy compared to that of his predecessor.
The cabinet further decided to improve the efficiency and work culture in the government and facilitate expeditious clearance of government files on various issues.
It decided to do away with the practice of holding interview for filling up of government jobs at third and fourth grades level and candidates will be selected on the basis of their performance in written examination.
It has further decided to close down all the check-gates located on highways in the state to put an end to syndicate raj.
At least two of the ministers, Ranjit Dutta (cabinet rank) and Pallab Lochan Das (MoS) have announced that they would not use the beacon (red light) on their official vehicles.