Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is going all out to retain the hot seat in the assembly polls early next years if the state budget for 2015-16 is any indication.
Gogoi, who holds the finance portfolio in his budget speech on the floor of the House on Tuesday promised to fill up 65,000 vacancies.
Apart from it, Gogoi proposed cash assistance to one lakh women self-help groups and 1.26 lakh farmers.
In his 2 hour long budget speech, he agreed to reduce power bill for over 37 lakh consumers in the state.
Proposal for a separate development authority for women and children is another factor that is expected to matter in the assembly polls next year. Other assistance would pour in for the unmarried women, widows, women cooperatives. This is apart from reserving 30 per cent posts of constables for women.
Much to the delight of lakhs of women, Gogoi proposed exemption of embroidery, beads, glass bangles, and sarees, jari, chumki, below Rs 500 from VAT. He further proposed reduction of VAT on local handmade jewellery, school bags, pens and pencils costing less than Rs 10 per piece. Another striking feature of the budget is total exemption of vat on HDPE cocoon crates, plastic harvest boxes, silkworm rearing trays, these benefiting thousands of artisans and silk-worm rearers in the tribal area.
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