AGARTALA, March 19: Tripura Finance, PWD and Urban Development Minister Badal Choudhary said that the Left government has managed to be in power for long in the state because it encourages the public’s participation in its working for the state.
Speaking to the AMWJU team currently on a Tripura visit, the Minister said in the previous year, the state government’s main focus was on education, putting the state in the third spot on the state wise literacy rate in the country.
This year the main focus of the government is on social sector with an aim to improve the living standards of the people, he said.
The government has allotted separate funds in the annual budget for the education of children from BPL families, he said and added that there is a separate allocation from the state budget for the education of atleast 4000 children from BPL families in a year.
The whole costs for the education of children from the community from Nursery to College level is borne by the government, he added.
Above this the government also provides a sum of Rs 300 each to two girl child in such BPL families until the children are six years old, he said.
41 percent of the total state budget was allocated to the education sector in the state, he said.
The number of school going students in the state is low, he said.
The government also provide 35 kgs of rice to the BPL families at Rs 2 per kg every month, he said before adding, “It can be said that since the last ten years there has been no starving person in the state”.
He also said that the government has strictly directed all concerned officials to take up all development projects of the government and complete them in time.
The government doesn’t provide any room for corruption in its working, he said.
The financial status of the people of the state has been improving rapidly and the government is putting all efforts to make it equivalent to the national status.
The Tripura Minister said the government has been providing with all possible help and opportunities to the people of the far flung areas of the state and all villages enjoy electricity, portable drinking water and road connectivity, he added.
The government is also providing helicopter service to some villages on reduced prices, he said.
Regarding unemployment, he said the Tripura government has been providing jobs to its youth and said, in the past five years, the government has appointed around 8000 youths into different sectors.
He continued the private sector undertakings in the state also help in providing jobs to the youths of the state.
He continued that the Indian government had awarded the state for its agricultural productivity and for the government’s performance.
The Minister further claimed that there is no entry of any illegal non locals from Bangladesh into the state and added that the people of the state have a cordial and good relation with the people of Bangladesh.
Foreigners entering the state after 1971 are not allowed to stay in the state while those who had entered the state before 1971 are allowed to stay in the state, he added.
The Minister said, development of a state largely depends on the government and its ability to work with the people.