February 14, 2009 1:32:08 am
The Congress has accused Chief Minister Narendra Modi of taking credit of the initiatives taken by the Centre to help the ailing diamond industry in the state. The Leader of Opposition in state Assembly,Shaktisinh Gohil,on Friday,said the release issued by the State Information department was misleading.
He said the decision to set up a task force by the Reserve Bank of India and a relief package to the diamond industry was finalised by the Central government a fortnight ago.
As part of the package,the Central government has also decided to waive customs duty and several measures to help the diamond industry. This was conveyed to both Congress and BJP MPs by the Commerce Minister.
But the Gujarat government has issued a misleading release taking credit for the Central initiatives to help the diamond industry.
Best of Express Premium
Gohil said it was the responsibility of the state government to provide relief and rehabilitation of diamond industry,but it did nothing to bailout the ailing industry.
He said while the Central government had waived customs duty from raw diamonds,the state government had not reduced the electricity tariff for the diamond industry,though it extended largesse to Tata Motors for its Nano car project.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls,Modi can go to Mumbai and offer millions to the wife of Hemant Karkare but he cant think of giving even Rs 25 lakh to the diamond industry even though diamond workers are committing suicide, said Gohil.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
