G Plus Volume 1 Issue 45

6
In The News
G PLUS AUG 09 - AUG 15, 2014
Expectations for a
people friendly budget
Popular support for tax increase on tobacco, liquor
gplus feature
BUDGET 2014-15
AEC teachers
upset over ASTU
affiliation
Ahead of the State Budget,
2014-15 to be tabled next
week, economist, academicians,
trade bodies and the cross section
of the society has put emphasis
for a people friendly budget as a
whole, while advocating for tax raise
in commodities that have adverse affect
on public health.
Economist and former principal
of the Cotton College Prof. Dilip Kumar
Baruah stressed on the need of
tax raise in tobacco products, liquor
and other intoxicating substances for
the betterment of public health in the
State.
“Regulating the use of such substances
is an utmost necessity. I support
tax raise in tobacco, liquor and
other such substances. In the budget,
the government should include funds
to take up strong measures to stop the
sale of tobacco and liquor near educational
institutions. While measures
should also be taken to eradicate the
traditional, cultural and religious
practice of tobacco and liquor use in
the State,” Prof. Baruah said
Disclosing his expectation from
the State Budget, 2014-15, Prof. Baruah
said the budget must have a
plan to control the ever increasing
price of the essential commodities
in the State.“The budget must have
a plan for proper implementation of
the sections of the Essential Commodities
Act to arrest the price rise in
the State,” he said. He also advocated
for the inclusion of a time bound action
plan in the State Budget for the
proper utilisation of the central fund
in the State. The State budget is to
be tabled in the Assam Assembly on
Monday.
“The State Budget should also lay
emphasis on developing public private
partnership models to develop
the infrastructures of the government
educational institutions and
“
The State Budget should
also lay emphasis
on developing public
private partnership
models to develop the
infrastructures of the
government educational
institutions and sports
facilities in the State”
Prof. Dilip Kumar
Baruah
(Economist and former
principal of the Cotton
College)
sports facilities in the State,” Prof.
Baruah said.
Federation of Industry & Commerce
of North Eastern Region
(FINER) Chairman RS Joshi on the
other hand put stress on rationalising
the tax rate in the State Budget as the
industries are yet to evolve from the
recessive trend.
He also supported the formula
of increasing tax to decrease the consumption
of commodities, which
have adverse affect on public health,
however, he feels high tax rates on
tobacco products encourages smuggling
of such products from neighbouring
countries like Myanmar.
Joshi said the State Budget should
be prepared in such a way that the every
section of the society feels that
this budget is for them.
He also emphasised on the need
of developing the e-governance in the
State to a greater height and widening
of the tax net to encourage more and
more people to pay tax.
Academician and former principal
of the B. Barooah College
Dinesh Baishya is off the opinion that
now-days both the governments at
the State as well as at centre are not
welfare governments and the budget
these days are prepared following the
diktats of the corporate world.
“Budgets are now-day-days designed
by the corporate world and
international bodies like the World
Bank and International Monetary
Fund (IMF). On one hand the budget
will raise taxes on commodities like
tobacco and liquor while on the other
hand right under the nose of the administration,
illegal trade of these
commodities will continue,” he said.
Baishya also said that the government
has no control over price rise
and illegal trade. “Prices of medicine
has increased manifold but no measures
have been initiated to control
the price of the life saving drugs.”
Meanwhile, this correspondent
gathered responses from across the
society on their expectations from
the State Budget, 2014-15.
“Budget should have something
to control the price of essential commodities.
To compensate the loss in
controlling the price of the essential
commodities government should
hike taxes in luxury items and commodities
which have adverse affect on
public health like tobacco, liquor and
others,” said PK Saikia a retired Assam
government employee.
For a college going student like
Kaustab Talukdar, the State Budget
should lower the prices of electronic
gazettes like laptops, tabs, smartphones
and others so that the youths
have more access to the IT world.
In a statement, Engineering
College Teachers’ Association
(ECTA) general secretary
Dr Utpal Nath said that an
advertisement was published
in a daily on June 26 regarding
affiliation of AEC and Jorhat
Engineering College (JEC) to
ASTU. The advertisement was
published by the Academic
Registrar of Assam Science and
Technology University (ASTU)
informing that all government
engineering colleges of Assam,
including AEC and JEC, are affiliated
to ASTU and the syllabus
of ASTU will be taught in these
colleges.
“Without any full-fledged
and standard syllabi and without
the creation of a requisite standard
educational and research
environment, it is trying to bring
the two colleges under its control,
which are about 60 years old
and has a well-known glorious
heritage. The forceful co-called
affiliation was done by the ASTU
authority by misinterpreting
and misusing a government letter
(letter No. ATE.154/2012/58
dated July 23, 2014). They went
a step further to publish the
advertisement to legalize their
illegal action. The ECTA has
strongly condemned such an illegal
act of the university and has
emphasized on withdrawing of
the advertisement immediately,”
the statement said.
Expressing its resentment,
the ECTA said that a meeting
was held at NEDFi House on
April 30, 2013, in the presence
of the vice chancellor (VC)
of Gauhati University, VC of
ASTU, Education Commissioner
of the Government of Assam,
Director of Technical Education,
and representatives of teachers
and students from all government
engineering colleges.
“In that meeting, various
anomalies of the ASTU Act
and rules and regulations were
pointed out and the ASTU authority
had assured to remove
these anomalies within a stipulated
time. But the ASTU authority
remained silent and inactive
and did not take any step
in this regard till today. In the
meeting, a verbal assurance was
given to the teachers’ association
that in future if AEC and JEC
were to be taken under ASTU,
the same will be done only after
prior discussion with their respective
stakeholders,” said the
statement.
Moreover, the affiliation
will be considered only if ASTU
becomes a full-fledged university
with all necessary infrastructures
and only when it attains
the equal status as that of
Gauhati University, Dibrugarh
University or any other Central
university. It may be mentioned
here that postgraduate (PG)
courses in engineering subjects
are also taught in these two colleges
for a long time. But ASTU
has not been able to prepare UG
syllabi for all the semesters yet.
The teachers’ body said that
students have already taken admission
under Gauhati University
and Dibrugarh University
for the 2014-15 academic year.
Moreover, classes have already
started. Such an advertisement
by the ASTU authority has created
a negative impact not only
in the minds of the students but
also in the minds of the parents.