Turnaround: Leading Assam from the Front

By Tarun Gogoi

Memoir of a three-term chief minister
Tarun Gogoi became the chief minister of Assam at a difficult time. Insurgency was at its peak, and brutal killings dominated headlines. Development was at a standstill. With empty coffers, government employees were not paid salaries for months together. But the three consecutive terms of Gogoi's government -- from 2001 to 2016 -- have changed the Assam story. The number of killings by rebels has come down as several outfits were brought to the negotiating table. Economic growth accompanied the new stability. In 2013-14, for example, the state had a revenue surplus of more than Rs 200 crore. While there is a long way to go, Assam is today drawing huge investments and holds pride of place in India. Having emerged stronger from the dark years, it is now looking ahead at building smart villages, e-governance to remove corruption, investments for the welfare of women and the youth, and employment-oriented education to stem brain drain. Turnaround: Leading Assam from the Front is the story of how Tarun Gogoi's innovative and grounded style of governance helped bring about this change. As a record of Assam politics at its transformative best, it documents a trailblazing career and a state abuzz with the excitement of a makeover.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9789351777427

Tarun Gogoi

Born in 1936, Tarun Gogoi is a veteran Congress leader. He was handpicked by Indira Gandhi to lead the Youth Congress of Assam in 1971 and later elected to the Lok Sabha for six terms. From 1991 to 1993, he was the Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Food. From 1993 to 1995, he was the Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Food Processing Industry. Thereafter, he returned to state politics and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral victories in Assam, completing fifteen years as chief minister in 2016. His son Gaurav is also a prominent Lok Sabha member from Kaliabor, Assam.

Book preview

TURNAROUND

Leading Assam from the Front

TARUN GOGOI

HarperCollins Publishers India

Dedicated to my parents

Dr Kamaleshwar and Smt. Usha Gogoi

CONTENTS

A Brief History of Assam

Foreword

Epilogue

Appendices

Index

Acknowledgements

Photographic Inserts

About the Book

About the Author

Copyright

Map of Assam

A Brief History of Assam

•1947: Assam becomes part of the newly independent India.

•1961: Assamese becomes the state’s official language.

•1974: From Shillong, the capital of Assam shifts to Dispur.

•1979: Assam movement starts against Bangladeshi immigrants. President’s Rule enforced. Incidents of mass violence reported from Nellie in Morigaon district.

•1980: Elections held only in two seats in Barak Valley. The Congress wins both.

•1985: Assam Accord signed, puts an end to the Assam agitation. Asom Gana Parishad comes to power in the state.

•1991: The Congress comes to power. Hiteshwar Saikia sworn in as chief minister.

•2001: The Congress returns to power after five years of AGP rule.

•2012: In July, violence breaks out between the indigenous Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims. Seventy-seven people die and more than 400,000 are displaced from almost 400 villages, taking shelter in 270 relief camps.

•2014: A series of attacks by militants result in seventy-six deaths in Chirang, Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts on 23 December 2014. Attacks attributed to the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.

Foreword

SHRI TARUN GOGOI will soon be completing three terms as the Chief Minister of Assam. This period of fifteen years has witnessed a remarkable transformation of Assam’s economy and polity. This transformation owes a great deal to the wise and enlightened leadership provided by Shri Gogoi to the government and people of Assam.

In this book, entitled Turnaround: Leading Assam from the Front, Shri Gogoi has given a lucid account of the challenges he faced as chief minister and the manner in which he has grappled with those challenges, converting them into opportunities to write a new shining chapter in the long and tortuous history of Assam.

Shri Gogoi assumed office as chief minister for the first time in May 2001. He inherited from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government, which ruled Assam from 1996 to 2001, an economy in deep crisis, crippled by multiple insurgencies and characterized by the collapse of law and order and gross financial mismanagement.

In grappling with the state of deep crisis that he inherited, Shri Gogoi was helped by his vast political experience in Delhi – first as joint secretary and later as general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), working closely with Smt. Indira Gandhi, Shri Sanjay Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times, beginning in 1971. He held the position of minister with independent charge of the Union food ministry in the Congress government led by Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao as prime minister. In 1993, he was shifted to the ministry of food processing. His long stay and experience gained in Delhi enriched his outlook in functioning at the national level and also helped him in discharging his new responsibilities as chief minister. Even then, it was by no means an easy task to grapple effectively with the onerous responsibilities of the office of chief minister of a crisis-ridden state. It is a great tribute to Shri Gogoi’s qualities of head and heart that he proved more than equal to the challenging task entrusted to his care of managing the affairs of a difficult state like Assam.

As mentioned by Shri Gogoi, the legacy left by the AGP government obliged him to grapple effectively with three sets of issues, namely, gross financial and fiscal mismanagement, fighting insurgencies and revival and acceleration of inclusive development.

On assuming office, Shri Gogoi found that there was a huge budget deficit and, starved of funds, the Government of Assam could not pay even salaries to its employees for months on end. Public sector enterprises, particularly those belonging to power and transport sectors, were on the verge of total collapse. The financial crisis had almost paralysed the government. Therefore, revamp of the finance department was considered by Shri Gogoi to be his top priority. Plugging loopholes in revenue collection, reform of public enterprises and levy of value added tax (VAT) led in due course to a turnaround in the state’s financial situation. In 2013–14, the state had a revenue surplus of Rs 2.23 billion. The fiscal deficit to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) rate stood at 2.3 per cent as against the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) target of 3 per cent. Debt to GSDP ratio stood at 17 per cent, well below the FRBM target of 28.4 per cent. There has been a twofold increase in tax revenue, from Rs 49.87 billion in 2009–10 to Rs 89.95 billion in 2014–15 – at a growth rate of 17 per cent. The improvement in fiscal resources enabled the state to increase its development spending on infrastructure and social and economic services.

When the Congress government came to office in May 2001, the state was faced with multiple insurgencies, the most prominent being the movements led by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and Bodo extremists. Through effective counter-insurgency strategies, the situation has greatly improved over the years. The change that has come about has been aptly summed up by the chief minister in this book. As pointed out by him, ‘Earlier before the Congress rule, there were pockets of peace in an insurgency-dominated state; now, there are pockets of insurgency in a peaceful state. On a scale of 100, I would rate my success at eighty.’ Insurgency had led to the flight of capital; now capital is returning with the flight of insurgents.

Shri Gogoi has always recognized that meaningful solutions to Assam’s problems of poverty and unemployment can only be found within the framework of a rapidly expanding economy.

With increased availability of resources, the state’s expenditure on development projects and programmes has gone up substantially, opening up new vistas of opportunities for speeding up development. Special emphasis has been given to the expansion and modernization of social and economic infrastructure of roads and bridges, education and health services, paying special attention to the needs of women, children and the youth, particularly those living in backward regions and those who belong to backward communities. Agriculture being the backbone of the economy, greater emphasis is being laid on increasing acreage and production. Over 8 lakh kisan cards have been issued to enable farmers to secure bank loans. A plan has been put into operation to usher in a white revolution by organizing milk producers for efficient procurement, processing and marketing.

The chief minister has a vision to make Assam the hottest tourist destination, and the Assam government is in the process of engaging a branding and communication agency to aggressively promote the state.

Thanks to the increased emphasis on health services, there has been a significant improvement in social indicators. The maternal mortality rate fell from 480 per one lakh live births in 2004 to 330 in 2009. The infant mortality rate fell from 64 per 1,000 live births in 2006 to 46 per 100 live births in 2009. In 2010–11, 5.2 million Below Poverty Line (BPL) families were provided with mosquito nets.

Education being the key to progress, large sums have been allocated to provide schools, colleges and universities with state-of-the-art physical infrastructure and well-trained staff to hone the students’ physical and mental abilities. A computer literacy programme seeks to equip students with computers and create an environment in which information technologies can flourish. There is a bias in favour of modern technologies and development of skills to enhance the employability of students.

Various measures that have been adopted have helped to improve the educational environment. There has been a significant increase in the percentage of students who have passed high school, from 33 per cent in 2001 to 70.3 per cent in 2011.

Priority attention is being given to the education of girls. Bicycles are being provided to day scholars. Shri Gogoi, however, feels that residential schools are the answer to uninterrupted education. Therefore, the government intends to set up residential schools with private sector involvement for the education of girls from BPL families in every district headquarters.

Under the visionary leadership of Shri Tarun Gogoi, Assam has made impressive progress. The state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased from 4 per cent in 2000–01 to 6 per cent in 2014–15. However, he recognizes that the task is unfinished. He has prepared a plan – CM’s Vision Plan 2030 – for implementing his sustainable development agenda covering organic farming, water preservation, afforestation, preservation of soil nutrients and pollution reduction as the thrust areas. His ambition is for Assam to join the category of developed states of India. His turnaround story is living proof that given wise leadership and people’s cooperation, this is an achievable goal. Under his leadership, Assam has moved forward on the road to peace and progress and has got rid of the tag of a ‘lahe lahe’ – laidback – state. May his path be blessed.

Dr Manmohan Singh

Former Prime Minister of India

February 2016

ONE

THE CROWN OF THORNS

GUWAHATI, 17 MAY 2001

THE MIGHTY BRAHMAPUTRA was sedate, and in the distance I could see the sun move closer to the horizon. A couple of yards away, a few egrets stood silently on a tree stump that must have floated down from the upper reaches of the river. I took off my sandals and got down from the car, instantly feeling the warm sands of the bank enclose my feet.

As I walked down to the water’s edge, I remembered that a German scientist had once told me that the Brahmaputra is not a river: it is an ocean. Much later, I had suggested in a meeting that I would like to set up a water refinery in Assam and supply water to all the parched states. I gazed at the placid waters for a long time, the vastness filling me with awe as always. I imagined the river looking back and, in a moment of communion, felt truly blessed. Bhupen Hazariks’s anthem celebrating the river came unbidden to the mind: ‘Mahabahu Brahmaputra, Mahamilanar Tirtha’ (Mighty-armed Brahmaputra, the pilgrim spot of a great confluence).

I had always been an aficionado of the great balladeer’s melodies, but it was at that instant that I truly absorbed their sublime philosophy. Musician, lyricist, poet, singer, actor, filmmaker and author, Bhupen Hazarika’s genius permeates the soul of Assam. I realized that my unconscious remembrance of that extraordinary song, with my senses awakening to its essence, was not any coincidence. It was symbolic.

That evening, soaked in the beauty of my land, I finally felt the tightness of my thought-laden mind slacken. I was filled with joy, hope and anticipation. My tribute to the Brahmaputra, perhaps the most cherished emblem of Assam and the aspirations of its people, had been richly realized. I was living through moments of immense significance that, I believe, were sanctified by a divine wand.

Finally, a change had been heralded. The 2001 election verdict, with the Congress winning seventy-one of the 126 seats in the assembly, in all honesty, was not unexpected. In the months that I had spent campaigning across the length and breadth of Assam, I had made it my mission to understand the problems of the people. I had grown alive to the restlessness that resided within; the people yearned for change, for the passing of the old order, for a determined leader. I was certain that the Indian National Congress (INC) would win. I had seen it coming six months prior to results day.

The unhappiness of voters with the misrule of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government led by Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta was perceptible – which, I thought, was a shame. It was unfortunate that a state political party, which had ridden to power in 1996 on the back of numerous promises, had disappointed the people in a piteous manner. It saddened me that the party had failed its provenance – the momentous six-year-long, anti-foreigner Assam agitation, unparalleled in the history of independent India. The agitation led by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) to detect and deport illegal migrants to Bangladesh had found deep resonance among the Assamese who had come out in hundreds to protest and demonstrate. And, when the leaders of the agitation formed a political party after signing the Assam Accord with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985, there was much joy and hope. It thus grieved me to see the spirit of the simple and romantic Assamese silently shattering. The first phase of AGP rule – from 1985 to 1990 – had been distressing enough. The economy was in the doldrums, and insurgency and counter-insurgency were the order of the day. But the descent during the second phase – from 1996 to 2001 – was worse. Assam witnessed its ugliest era, marked by fear among the innocent and violence of the corrupt.

Therefore, for me, the 2001 election was not about garnering votes: it was about assuaging a realm torn asunder by strife. I realized that by winning the election, the Congress party and I, as its state leader, had been entrusted with immense responsibility. The time had come for me to commit myself completely and utterly to the service of my people.

I felt a sense of homecoming.

For several years, home had meant Delhi. It was where I had lived with my family and whose landmarks held within their precincts many memories of my children’s growing-up years. Talkatora Gardens was my favourite place, where my daughter Chandrima would enjoy herself on the swing set while I took a walk. India Gate meant long strolls, balloons and ice cream. Nehru Gardens was where we went for picnics. But perhaps the most loved family times were the delicious lunches at the Central Hall kitchen in Parliament.

I am very close to my daughter as she was an only child till she was nine years old. Then Gaurav, my son, was born. I remember Chandrima fussing over him, effortlessly taking on the role of a mother, and him responding to her delightfully. Many years have passed since then but I still marvel at the bond that my children share, and appreciate how love between siblings can be so many-splendoured. Today I am happy that I made an effort to give my children a normal childhood and am filled with pride when they tell me that I have and will always be their role model.

My political acumen was honed by the years I spent in Delhi. The canvas had been large and the horizon wide. In working closely with the Central leadership, I had learned to view issues from a national perspective. The state political arena in contrast appeared limiting and an altogether different kettle of fish. The dismal state of affairs in Assam at that point merely compounded the difference. Assam had been laggard since the Congress lost power to the hastily formed Janata Party in the 1977 general election. The Janata government was weak, soft on issues of importance and rife with infighting. Feeble leaders put forth weak policies that had the most impact in Assam. The state slipped into a period of decline and the people suffered. By 2001, indicators of development had fallen to an all-time low and insurgency was at its peak.

For so long, I had observed the fall without realizing its impact, I had understood the pain without feeling its angst, I had related to the people without sensing their misery. The state and my people were bleeding and I could no longer stay away. I had to help bring peace to my land.

The scene of jubilation soon after the assembly election results were declared was surreal. People danced and celebrated on the streets, and