Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Feb. 26: Leader of the Opposition TR Zeliang said on the final day of the budget session that he agreed with Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s view that “developmental activities of the state are hindered since a huge amount of fund is used for payment of government employees' salary.”
While mentioning that the state also has pension payment issue, he suggested the bogus pensions and other malpractices be checked stringently. He added that ‘scores of employees under the government sector are becoming a liability to the state and its exchequer rather than an asset.’
Sharing his opinion on the budget presented by the chief minister on Feb. 25, Zeliang questioned why the estimated growth of revenue from Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been put at 9.72% for the financial year 2019-20 while in 2017-18 it witnessed 25% growth over the previous year and 11.4% growth in 2018-19. He said implementing online system of collecting taxes should boost the collection.
Zeliang hit back at the Rio’s statement during his budget speech that “first priority of his government is road,” claiming that the PDA government has not brought even a single road project to the state in the last 11 months.
While stating that ‘apart from Kiphire, other newly created districts like Peren, Longleng and Noklak be brought at par with the rest,’ he asked why INR 1 cr. meant for development activities in Kiphire hasn’t been released. He also reminded that the students from the state are yet to receive their scholarships and that the government should make sure that they get their due.
