In Upper Assam, BJP faces an upbeat Opposition with its battalion of welfare schemes
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Dharmashwer Gogoi, a 70-year-old resident of Assam’s Jorhat district, reels off reasons to be disgruntled with the state government.
Not one woman in his family has been enrolled into the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s flagship Orunodoi scheme, which promises a monthly cash transfer of Rs 1,250 to lakhs of women in the state. Nor has he got a house under the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Then, there are the monthly expenses on buying drinking water because of a sharp drop in the water table in the village.
Gogoi said he was also disappointed that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government did not keep its promise of increasing the monthly pension for senior citizens. “It is difficult to survive with Rs 250 a month,” he said. “I am an old person and my health does not allow me to work anymore.”
But the elderly farmer, who was once a Congress voter, admits that the BJP government has benefitedhim on one count. Under the state’s land regularisation scheme, Gogoi was given ownership rights over 2.5 katha of his total 3 katha land. One katha equals 0.031 acre of land.
Gogoi added: “Like me, others did not get titles for their entire land. But we are hopeful we will get...