Agartala: Minister of Shipping and Inland Waterways and Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday urged Tripura BJP leaders and workers to campaign on the positives of the central Budget tabled in the parliament early this month.
Sonowal, who addressed a party gathering on Atmanirbhar Arthabybstha at Rabindra Bhawan here as part of BJP’s nationwide activities to propagate the Budget among its cadres, termed the document as “pro-people and growth-oriented”.
Sonowal claimed that the budget has a special provision for the development of Astalaxmi (eight states of the northeast) in terms of road and connectivity infrastructure, farm production and value addition of the produces and uplift of the people’s livelihood.
Applauding the Biplab Kumar Deb-led BJP-IPFT government in Tripura, he said the state has seen an exceptional array of development work in the last four years, which was not done in the last four decades. Not only Tripura, but all the northeastern states have also been identified across the globe for their immense potential because of the initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he pointed out.
A new scheme, Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East, was proposed to be implemented through the North-Eastern Council, according to the Budget. It will fund infrastructure, in the spirit of PM Gati Shakti, and social development projects based on the needs of the North-East. It would promote livelihood activities for the youth and women, filling the gaps in various sectors.
“It will not be a substitute for the existing central or state schemes. While the central ministries may also draw up their candidate projects, priority will be given to those drawn up by the states. An initial allocation of Rs 1,500 crore will be made,” Sonowal argued.
He said the intention and vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards the Northeast is being reflected in the budget.
Over the years, when the budgets were presented, very few people realised what the budget has in store for them, especially taxpayers who wonder how much relief is provided, and how much tax has been imposed for different goods and services. He maintained that under Modi, visible changes have taken place wherein the budget now focuses on the ‘common people living in the remote part of the country,’ and not only on the business community and the corporates, which is “very relevant for the Northeastern states”.
