New Delhi: Amid the deteriorating Afghanistan situation, Rajya Sabah MP and former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Ripun Bora on Saturday appealed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take up the evacuation process of people from Assam living in Afghanistan with the Home Ministry and External Affairs Ministry.
"Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma should immediately take up the issue of evacuation of people from Assam living in trouble-torn Afghanistan," said Sarma in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat.
Bora said that there are several people from Assam who are living in Afghanistan. "Many of the State governments have already taken steps and appealed to Central government to evacuate their respective citizens from Afghanistan," Bora added.
On Friday, the Uttarakhand government has submitted a list of its people living in Afghanistan to the Central government.
Bora also spoke on various other issues including the performance of the BJP-led state government. "Chief Minister is claiming that he has done a lot for the development of the State in last 100 days. But the reality is that there is neither any development nor any prosperity in the state," said Bora.
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He also criticised the State government over its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Stating that only 20 lakh people have been fully vaccinated in Assam, Bora said as of now 1.28 crore people are yet to be vaccinated with a second dose of vaccine and 1.07 core people have not got even the first jab. "With experts warning about third wave, the situation is quite alarming in Assam since very few steps have be taken to combat the third wave," said Bora.
Referring to the Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, Bora said that it will jeopardise the long lasting peace and tranquility in Assam among various sects. "Assam is such a State where in almost all the villages, people belonging to Hinduism, Islam and Christianity have been living together since time immemorial. As such there will be not a single place where there will not be Hindu or Muslim within the five km radius of temple," said Bora.
The senior Congress leader also criticised Sarma over his claim that Assam has successfully implemented PM Kisan Sanman Nidhi Yojana during last 100 days.
"As per records in the agriculture department, under this scheme out of 35 lakh beneficiaries 16.72 beneficiaries are fake ones and they have siphoned of several hundred crores of rupees. And the CM hasn't talked about conducting enquiry into these allegations," Bora said.
