Chairman of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Prodyut Bora, stated that Assam's ranking in the total number of beggars list in the country depicts the failure of the political leadership in the state.
Assam topped the chart of the highest number of beggars among the North-eastern states and second highest in the entire country, according to a report submitted in the Lok Sabha in March by former Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot. It has a total number of 22,116 beggars.
On an average, the state has the highest number of beggars in the country out of 1 lakh population as per the report.
Pradyut Bora said media sources, "The entire political leadership lacks two things- vision and aggregating capability. Everybody has failed us irrespective of party".
Bora added that at the time of Independence, Assam's per capita income was 4 per cent above the national average whereas currently the state's per capita income stands at 45 per cent below the national average.
"We went from a situation of 4 per cent surplus to 45 per cent deficit. And the net result is that we have the silver medal in the number of beggars", stated Bora.
Bora said, "the government should focus on three things- economy, economy and economy!"
"The state government has become a 'government of spectacle'. It has been giving one spectacle after another like Namami Brahmaputra and others to distract the people from the main issue of the day which is economy employment, income. When you do not know how to govern, you resort to spectacle just like the Romans did. This has been reflected in the number of beggars", he further added.
