ITANAGAR, 10 Feb: Against the backdrop of the state government’s seeking inputs, suggestions and recommendations from the public, NGOs and civil organisations in view of the forthcoming budget session, the Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF) on Monday sought equitable allotment of funds and balanced regional growth.
In a letter to the chief minister, the AITF said that there should be equitable district-wise allocation of funds. “There is a growing discontentment that the funds are not allocated to the districts, which may lead to regional imbalances and crippling regional balanced growth. As such, every step may be taken to allocate funds in an equitable manner to all the districts/regions, taking into consideration the demography, geography, nagging connectivity and other infrastructures,” it said.
The AITF also sought an anti-drug policy, highlighting the growing drug menace, particularly in the capital region. It said that the drug menace has “already penetrated into the countryside too and our future generation is at stake, unless we act on time.”
It urged the state government to “devise linkages with reputed drug rehabilitation centres in the country for rehabilitation measures and make the rehabilitation centres effectively functional in the state capital and all the districts; enact stringent laws against drug peddlers for life imprisonment; terminate from service those government employees involved in drug trafficking; organise a team of dedicated police task force against drug peddlers; and gear-up awareness campaigns at educational institutions and gram sabhas, involving the AITF, local CBOs/NGOs, public leaders, gaon burahs/buris, and urban and rural self-government.”
The forum further sought special fund allocation to the healthcare sector, saying that “adequate allocation may be made for healthcare infrastructure, healthcare manpower, lifesavings medicines and apparatus, so that our poor people are not referred outside the state in want of such facilities.”
