Team Herald
PANJIM: Former Union Finance minister and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Vice-President Yashwant Sinha on Monday gave his personal assurance that all three promised schemes—Griha Laxmi, Yuva Shakti and Mhaje Ghar, Maalki Hakk—of Goa Trinamool Congress (TMC) will be implemented as soon as TMC forms the government in the State. He also elaborated on the source of funds and maintained that there would be no additional burden on taxpayers nor will the State have to incur another loan to implement these schemes.
“These three schemes together will cost about Rs 3,330 crore. In terms of the norms, which have been fixed by the Finance Commission and the Reserve Bank of India, Goa already has an additional fiscal space of Rs 2,100 crore. So, that leaves us with Rs 1,200 crore, and in a budget of Rs 25,000 crore, this amount can easily be found out and spent on these welfare schemes,” said Sinha.
He claimed that TMC will focus on sustainable agriculture and sustainable mining both of which are crucial for Goa’s economy. “While other States have made progress, we are slipping behind in ease of doing business, which is hurting the industry. We will also ensure that farmers here get all the assistance they need for scientific and sustainable farming. Also, there has to be a network of food processing units in Goa apart from fishing. We will ensure that Goa becomes a magnet for food processing and not dependent on other States for its on consumption,” said Sinha.
He further said, “Sometimes in ‘Double Engine’ Governments it is possible that one engine goes in one direction, and the other in another direction. On a serious note, I want to mention that if the Central government of the BJP is trying to emphasise on wanting to run Double Engine Governments then all they want is to run a dictatorship. Because this means that they do not want any other party to run any government. Today, they are talking about double engine with respect to state government, tomorrow they will talk about triple engine with respect to panchayats. How will this work?”
Sinha also said, “I take full responsibility for these schemes and I will ensure that these schemes are implemented, whether I have to stay 3 to 6 months here in Goa after our government is formed.”
