If Failing To Take Care Of Parents, Prepare For A Salary Cut: Assam Govt To Govt Staff

[JANASENA]

Assam Budget 2017
A new law is set to be introduced in Assam that would make it mandatory for government employees to take care of their parents. If anyone is found not taking care of their parents, a part of their income will be deducted and used for the welfare of the parents.

The Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, while presenting his first full Budget in the Assembly, announced that the government has decided to link geriatric (relating to elderly) care to their employees’ pay from the 2017-18 fiscal. If an employee does not take care of their parents, then the government will deduct a part of their salary and give it to the neglected parents for their sustenance.

“Employees working in the government, state PSUs and companies will be expected to take care of their elderly parents in a desirable manner. In case of non-compliance, the proposed legislation would mandate that a certain portion of the salary of such employees would be deducted to be given to their respective parents,” Sarma said.

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Other key takeaways from the budget
The BJP government in Assam has decided to give an impetus to ‘Swadeshi Values’ and proposed to reimburse an employee up to Rs 1,000 on the purchase of two Khadi apparels annually. The government also decided to provide two sets of Khadi and handloom clothes to each of the five lakh government employees in the state.

The budget that showed an overall deficit of Rs 2,349.79 crore targeted the welfare of tea workers as well. A sum of Rs 287 crore has been allocated to pay Rs 5,000 to each of the 6.5 lakh tea plantation workers who opened bank accounts. Also, a separate allocation has been made to pay Rs 12,000 to the accounts of pregnant plantation workers. They would also provide 40 medical units across 850 tea estates to take care of the healthcare needs of the workers. The government plans to assuage the condition of the poor tea workers who were affected after the demonetization.

Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated to educational institutions. Sarma also proposed the opening of three engineering and two medical colleges, a new cultural university, five model degree colleges, six new planetariums, 23 district science centres, 219 Aryabhatta Science Centres. Besides this, two-wheelers will be provided to 1,000 girl students.

They will also give eggs twice a week as part of the mid-day meal program which covers 42.61 lakh children in lower and upper primary schools in the state. The cost is calculated to be Rs 130 crore a year.

A wildlife court would be set up in Kaziranga National Park to try cases of rhino poaching.

The government also decided to provide a rebate on entertainment tax in multiplexes if they play Assamese and regional language films.