Opposition flays budget 2019-20
Our Correspondent
Kohima | February 26
Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) on Monday rained a barrage of criticism on the State budget 2019-20 which Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio presented in the Assembly on February 25.
The Leader of Opposition, TR Zeliang, questioned, “If the department is effectively implementing online system in collection of taxes, how is the growth rate going down year by year instead of going up year by year?”
Participating in the general discussion on budget 2019-20, Zeliang accused the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government of building castles in the air by making empty promises on roads.
“Till today, PDA government has not brought any Central Project on Road Sector and whatever is taking place at present is the achievement of the previous DAN-III NPF led government,” he noted.
As the State’s financial position is not strong, he said it would do well for the government to stringently check bogus pensions and other malpractices. Towards this he mentioned that there is a need to streamline the work charged employees as well, observing that scores of employees under this sector are becoming a liability to the State and its exchequer rather than being an asset.
The opposition leader also remarked that the PDA government should adopt the policy of equal attention and equal distribution of resources, citing that besides Kiphire, newly created districts like Peren, Longleng and Noklak must also be brought up at par with the rest in the State as they equally deserved the attention of the government. He alleged that the present government has failed to even live up to its promise with regard to the case of Kiphire district.
Calling out the Chief Minister and his government for paying ‘lip-service’ to the students’ community, Zeliang brought to fore the troubles plaguing the education sector in Nagaland State. Unpaid scholarships, land encroachment of government colleges, NAAC accreditation, backdoor appointments and ex-gratia for students were among the issues brought up by the Leader of Opposition.
He stated that if these cannot be granted then PDA government must admit so, instead of making false promises to them.
