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Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider Special Grants-in-Aid (GIA) to the local bodies within the Sixth Schedule areas of the state.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Gogoi said GIA to the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam "would go a long way in fulfiling the aspirations of the people living in these sensitive areas and ensure their full participation in the development process at the grassroots level". He added that the 13th Finance Commission had advocated for general basic grant to these areas.
He said the exclusion of the local bodies in the Sixth Schedule areas, including Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), from the operation of the 73rd and 74th amendments vide Article 243M and 243ZC respectively, has constitutionally deprived them of the requisite financial support unlike their counterparts in the general areas.
Making a strong plea, Gogoi said though the 14th Finance Commission had recommended general basic grants and performance grants for Rs 6,387.11 crore to rural and urban local bodies during 2015-16 to 2019-20, it had deprived the local bodies in Sixth Schedule areas of substantial amount from the award of the central Finance Commission. In this connection, the chief minister cited the instance of the 13th Finance Commission awarding some specific grants to the Sixth Schedule areas in spite of constraints of applicability of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments.
Gogoi regretted that though the government of Assam had strongly urged the 14th Finance Commission for an amount of Rs 2,118 crore for infrastructure and core services of Sixth Schedule areas, it did not award any fund for these areas.
Gogoi also asked the Centre to continue with the present funding pattern of 90:10 for central schemes for special category states like Assam.
"Peace of the region is intrinsically associated with the development and without the Special Category Status and restoration of 90:10 fund pattern for the centrally sponsored schemes development of the region is not possible," said Gogoi.
