GUWAHATI, July 13: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has hit out at the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government in Assam, accusing the ruling dispensation of “being concerned with renovating and beautifying their own bungalows at a time when the state is grappling with issues such as COVID, inflation and drastic rise in fuel prices.
“At a time when the state government cannot waive off microfinance loans, it is shameful that lakhs of public money are being spent on renovating expensive bungalows. Such expenditure at this point is completely wasteful and does nothing to alleviate the sufferings of the people who are burdened with increasing toll, cess, etc,” Gogoi said, while addressing reporters here.
“When an investment of Rs 3.6 crore has been made already per bungalow with taxpayers’ money, this flagrant display of insensitivity on the part of the PWD at a time when the people are facing extreme financial hardships needs to be questioned and accounted for,” he said.
On the Cattle Preservation Bill 2021, which was tabled in the Assembly on Monday, Gogoi said that Congress had raised the issue of protection of cows “over a long period now”.
“In the 2021 election manifesto, we had promised the construction of gaushalas in every district. The Assam Congress also raised the issue of illegal cow syndicates in the state under the BJP government,” he said
“All the key provisions of this Bill are already present in the existing law of 1950. Why was that not amended if needed, and implemented properly? The government does not need a new law to tackle the problem of cow smuggling,” Gogoi said.
“Therefore this Bill is nothing but a ploy to divert attention from the government’s failures in COVID management and vaccination,” he said.
The Congress MP further said that the Bill if converted into an Act might sound the death-knell for thousands of dairy farmers and cooperatives in Assam.
“These cooperatives will not be able to take care of the aged cows that have stopped producing milk. It will create an environment of harassment when farmers want to purchase cattle. There is no mention of how to increase production of dairy, create more cooperatives, production units, et al,” he said.