December 2, 2024
December 2, 2024
By Staff REPORTER
ITANAGAR, Mar 06: Governor P B Acharya on Monday exhorted the members of the state legislative assembly to play a constructive role in taking the state forward by shunning narrow and selfish motives.
Delivering the customary address on the inaugural day of the ten-day Budget session of the assembly the governor urged the law makers to rise to the occasion to propel the state to greater heights following the mantra of ‘Arunachal Rising’ and ‘Team Arunachal’ which he said were purveyor of hope and bonding.
Reminding the members, the goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, the governor said that the members should show the right path, lead by example and be an inspiration for thousands of youth of the state.
“The nation has a lot of expectations from this government led by a young and modern Chief Minister. The youth of the state have huge expectations from the members of this House and from the government. Politics must be fought on the electoral battleground, but must never be allowed to come in the path of development and progress,” he said.
Outlining the policies and the programmes of the government, Acharya said that the priority of the Government would be on ushering in long term governance reforms, to develop Arunachal as the Organic Hub and Fruit bowl of India, to position the state as the centre for wellness, spiritual and adventure Tourism, to create policies and institutions which encourage entrepreneurship, employment generation and skill Development.
“Quality access to all for basic social services of health and education, planned investment in infrastructure like road, air and rail connectivity, power and water supply, reinvigorate stalled hydropower projects, which hold the biggest economic resource for the state, higher education in conventional degree courses to make our graduates employable or entrepreneurs and to encourage cashless transactions to curtail corruption,” he pointed out.
The governor said that the soul of Arunachal lies in the villages and it is the tribal villager who is the living embodiment of age-old tradition and also harbinger of hope for the future.
“It is crucial that our villages must be provided with infrastructure facilities, which make rural life vibrant. My government will be taking concrete measures for rural transformations through planned investments in rural infrastructure and also by empowering the three-tiered local bodies of self-governance,” he said.
Exhorting the members he said they have a great responsibility in preserving the unique tribal traditions, which have been a way of life. The government would be taking measures which would preserve and document oral cultural traditions and customary laws of each tribe, which have been passed on from generation to generation.
“In spite of the fiscal challenges, my government has managed to maintain a tight financial discipline this year and maintained a healthy cash balance and even gone ahead and implemented the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission,” he disclosed.
He said, the overall priority for development of the state is on three ‘Es’ – Education, Electricity and Employment. Special emphasis would be on higher education with skill abilities, harnessing the hydropower potential of the state and empowerment of the youth and women through skill development and employment.
The governor stated that the government was firm in dealing with law and order problems and demonstrated a policy of zero tolerance against criminals and lawbreakers.
“The culture of bandhs and disruptions, which vitiated the work environment over the past few years, is now a matter of the past and the work culture and ethics of governance have taken precedence and a professional work culture is slowly setting in,” he added.
The governor pointed out that one of the key impediments which has hindered economic growth of the state was the absence of robust connectivity.
“This has a direct impact on inflow of private investments as well as tourists’ inflow. The Centre had recently announced highway projects of over 50,000 crore to be constructed over the next three years. The Trans Arunachal Highway has made steady progress and some niggling problems of land acquisition have also been overcome,” he said.
A blueprint of Frontier Highway and an East-West Industrial Corridor and rail corridor has been prepared which is being discussed with the Centre for funding, he said adding, rural road connectivity has also in considerable progress and now remote settlements were reasonably connected.
“My government is working on investment policies and frameworks, which will help attract private investment flows and create jobs opportunities,” he said adding to overcome the challenge of providing quality education for the youths, a fresh and radical approach is required in recruitments of teachers and in evaluating the teaching outcomes.
The governor said that another focus area of his government would be gender equality and women empowerment.
“My government with strong political will rehabilitate all the members of Puroik community and make them equal to any other citizens of our country,” he said adding the government would ensure cent per cent electricity coverage in villages under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana this year and thereafter embark upon cent per cent household electrification plan.
