The AASU burns effigy of Union Finance Minister,

Dr. Pranab Mukherjee

DIBRUGARH: The Dibrugarh district unit of AASU (All Assam Students Union), a very powerful students' wing in Assam, burnt the effigy of the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here today to protest against the neglect of Asom in the Union Budget tabled yesterday.

While talking to a Assam based daily, the assistant secretary of AASU, Rituparna Barua, said that the Union Minister allocated Rs.1,000 crore and Rs.500 crore as relief fund to West Bengal and Mumbai respectively but ignored Asom totally. The State continue to be assailed by the flood and erosion problem but the Centre seem little interested in solving it, he added. The student leader termed the Tarun Gogoi led Government a failure for failing to fight for the interest of the State.

Meanwhile the AUDF Supremo, Maulana Badri Uddin Ajmal, also lambasted the UPA Government at the centre on this issue saying, "If West Bengal and Maharastra can get relief why the entire North East was made a victim??" A letter was submitted by him, on behalf of the UDF, to the Union Finance minster on this issue and asked him to come up with a white paper soon.

Maulana Badriuddin Ajmal, the UDF (Undeclared Muslim League of Assam) supremo, criticizes ‘anti-minority’ budget of the Congress led front in Assam

GUWAHATI: Lambasting the Congress-led Asom Government for its anti-minority policies, AUDF president Badruddin Ajmal said the recently laid budget in the State Assembly has once again proved the anti-minority policies of the Congress government.

Stating that the recently laid budget proves the hollowness of Gogoi’s promises towards the minorities, Ajmal said, "The Honourable Chief Minister failed to start his speech with the State government’s initiatives for the welfare of the minority communities as there has been none to demonstrate. Likewise, he ended his speech without announcing any new programmes for the welfare of the minorities as he never had any intention of doing so."

He further said, "Unlike the welfare schemes of other groups of people, the buget speech on welfare on minorities did not spell out the total amount earmarked for the minorities, whether there has been an increase or decrease, the status of the major promises of the earlier years, etc."

He further said, "In his 2008-09 budget sppech, the Chief Minister had announced his decision to launch a special programme for the all-round socio-economic development of the minorities after due consultation with representatives of the minority organizations. He said that an amount of Rs 25 crore had been set aside for the project, which was supposed to start in the next financial year. In his recent budget, the Chief Minister, surprisingly, remained completely silent on the fate of the special programs for which the assurance had been given in the floor of the Assembly one year back."

Terming the State government’s decision to refrain from increasing the allocation for Minorities Development Boards / Corporations as another example of deception, Ajmal said that the earmarking of Rs 5 lakh for setting up a Minority Education Commission is mere eyewash, as no commission can be made functional with this amount. "It is sure that this will have the same fate as the special program announced in 2008-09 for Rs 25 crore."