Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, on Tuesday criticised the Assam government for not announcing any scheme for the poor even after Centre’s announcement of its Rs 20 lakh-crore financial package to revitalise the country’s economy.

Saikia said other states are announcing a number of schemes to help the poor and stranded who have lost their means of livelihood and are facing untold misery because of the lockdown necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Saikia’s reaction came a day after state finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hailed the Centre’s economic package and talked about how the package would help the state to revamp certain sectors.

Sarma said the state government would also announce its “matching share” with that of the Centre’s.

“Although other states have announced pro-poor schemes, the Assam government is yet to announce any such scheme,” Saikia said.

Saikia also charged the BJP of politicising the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing out how the BJP president, Ranjeet Kumar Dass, had flanked Sarma during the Monday press meet.

The conference had focused on how Assam would be benefited from the Centre’s economic package.

The health minister had introduced Dass as the chairman of the Housefed Corporation during the press conference.

Saikia criticised the state government for its alleged unwillingness to bring back migrant workers in the Shramik Special trains.

The state government, on the other hand, has been appealing to the migrant workers to enter the state at an interval of two to three days, so that it could have time to arrange their quarantine facility.

Saikia said the state government should also reconsider its emphasis on digital classes during the lockdown period, saying that students from financially poor families do not have smartphones.