Assam power and industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at Wathai on Sunday. A Telegraph picture

Dibrugarh, Nov. 1: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today blamed Ulfa for the lack of development in villages, “particularly those which are on the inter-state border areas”. He also promised that his government would speed up development activities in the bordering villages so that the seeds of insurgency could not be sown again.

Addressing a meeting at the Wathai Purbanchal ME School playground, on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Tinsukia district, Gogoi said because of the activities of militant organisations like Ulfa, the government could not implement the welfare schemes in these areas as its top priority was to maintain law and order.

The meeting was organised as part of the three-day 15th Biennial conference of the Asom Moran Sabha in Margherita.

“If Ulfa desires to do good for the people of the state, they should come forward and join the political process. Gone are the days of the bullet, now it is the day of the ballot only,” the chief minister said.

Gogoi was accompanied by state power and industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi, Sadiya MLA Bolin Chetia and Asam Sahitya Sabha president Rong Bong Terang in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Bordoloi said the people of the area had enough of insurgency and now they wanted to live a life of peace and prosperity.

“It is really a happy moment for me and the people of my constituency here that the chief minister had taken the pain to come to such an interior place where no chief minister had come earlier. We the people now will have to complement the initiatives taken by the government and ensure that there is no further trouble in the area and development takes place,” Bordoloi said.

The chief minister while stating that his government was formulating a special development scheme for the backward communities of the state, also appealed to the thousands of people present at the meeting to co-operate with the government and government agencies for proper implementation of the welfare scheme.

“Many a time it is seen that development activities in the interior areas are hampered because of some local issues. This needs to be stopped and our elected members of the local bodies, like the gaon panchayats, should remain more vigilant to ensure that development activities are never hampered,” Gogoi said.

The chief minister also announced that a new hospital would be built in the area along with a vocational institute for the benefit of the village youths.

Gogoi also handed over the land documents of a three-katha plot for the construction of a rest house in Guwahati for the representatives of the Moran Students’ Union.

Later, he attended the golden jubilee celebrations of the Saikhowa Higher Secondary School and announced Rs 10 lakh aid for the development of the school.

Bordoloi also accompanied Gogoi at the function along with legislators Bolin Chetia and Durga Bhumij.

Gogoi, during his 15-minute speech, outlined the various schemes undertaken by his government for the development of the education sector in his state.

He also attended a party meeting at Saikhowa block office and inaugurated a forest rest house at Dholla.