Assam's 'disease' is population: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday asserted in the Assembly that high population is a «disease» for the state, which impacts its performance in various parameters. He also maintained that the state's poor performance in a nationwide cleanliness survey «is a reflection on the people as a whole rather than the government», as he pitched for a 'proper citizens' movement'.
Taking part in a discussion on the state Budget, Sarma said the state's performance in terms of percentage cannot be compared with Arunachal Pradesh or Meghalaya, which have a much lower population than Assam.
«Our population burden affects our performance in terms of percentage. Population vis-a-vis students determine the percentage», he said, referring to opposition Congress MLA Bharat Chandra Narah pointing out that Assam's gross enrolment ratio (GER) was much less than the national average.
Narah, speaking before the chief minister, had said that Assam's GER was 16.9 per cent as per recent survey findings, while the national average is 27.1 per cent.
Most other North Eastern states have better percentage than Assam, with a few of them even performing better than the national average, he added.
Responding to the Congress MLA's statements, Sarma said, «We have to attack the disease and not the symptoms, and our disease is population.»
He also claimed that participation of colleges in the national survey on GER at various levels was low in the state previously, which negatively impacted the state's position.
«This time,
