[Assam] Dibrugarh District having the highest per capita income, a disqualification?

[Dilip/Dil Deka]

"The study also criticises the state’s political leadership for not taking up the cause of Assam with the Centre. “It is indeed unfortunate that neither the leaders in power nor in the opposition have raised the issue with any vigour." -- Herein lies one of the main problems. The present Congress government is afraid to rattle Delhi, the fear being troublemakers will fall out of favor with the Central Committee. The past AGP government and the AGP leaders were busy pursuing personal gains.
   
  Demonstration on the streets in Assam, which is frequently done, is only a start. The grievances and demands must reach Delhi and discussions must be persuaded. Who can do it?- the MP's and the Rajya Sabha members. Now, are they waiting for payola from the masses in assam per the recently discovered custom of taking money to ask questions?
  Dilip

Bartta Bistar <barttabistar at hotmail.com> wrote:
      Assam least developed state in N-E: study
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=99761
Statesman News Service 
NEW DELHI, Dec. 18. — Assam is lagging behind all other states in the Northeast — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura — in human development index. What is particularly unfair is the central government is making a habit of taking Assam for granted.... The alienation of Assam persists, the study warns. 
Assam stands at a dismal position in the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a holistic indicator of education, health and income. Its HDI rating of 0.348 places it second from the bottom in the northeast, points out the study, titled “Left Behind - A Case Study of Assam”. 
The study conducted for the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) by Mr Mohan Guruswamy and Mr Ronald Joseph Abraham, it urges the Centre to increase its assistance to Assam manifold. “In fact, the focus of development in the northeast should be Assam-oriented. Focusing on Assam’s development means focusing on over a two-third of the northeast. The development of Assam should be the top priority of the central government in the northeast. Assam should be treated on par with Jammu and Kashmir, the study suggested. 
The average growth rate in India in 1980-81 to 2002-03 was 5.98 percent, while the same for the northeast was 4.47 percent. But Assam remained far behind in economic growth with a paltry 2.47 percent. The study says poverty is quite high in the northeast. Assam had 36.09 percent people below the poverty line in 1999-2000. The all-India average was 26.10 percent. 
Assam, the second largest state in North-east, also remained far behind others in per capita electricity consumption. The North-eastern states hace “Special Category States” status and receive a greater share of Central assistance in the form of grants, and not loans. But the funding pattern was biased against Assam. “While small states receive generous assistance, Assam gets a much lesser proportional share of these funds,” the study points out. The study also criticises the state’s political leadership for not taking up the cause of Assam with the Centre. “It is indeed unfortunate that neither the leaders in power nor in the opposition have raised the issue with any vigour. The present pattern of funding which is biased against Assam seems to be clearly fraught with risks.” The 12th Finance Commission had not allocated enough funds for Assam. “While Mizoram and Nagaland are set to get an annual per capita grant of Rs 7,170 and Rs 5,872, respectively, Assam gets a paltry annual per
 capita grant of Rs 336,” the report said. 
   


  
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