Several key decisions taken in Assam Cabinet meeting held in Bongaigaon on Wednesday

Nov. 24: In the weekly Assam Cabinet on Wednesday held in Bongaigaon, several key decisions regarding forming a panel to ascertain total Satra land under encroachment,setting up Youth Commission,amending rules for PG courses in Govt medical colleges & restructuring school education, changes in APSC exams, reduce e-procurement threshold, extend PMAY benefits to settlers of Govt land, amend GMC Act, enhance DA for State Govt employees/pensioners, set up Trust for welfare of Assam Agitation victims, amend Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council Act and create a special unit under Special Branch of Assam Police among others were taken. The Cabinet Meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma.

KEY DECISIONS:

Additional holidays for Govt employees:

Holidays on 6th & 7th January 2022 for State Govt employees along with usual holidays on 8th and 9th being 2nd Saturday and Sunday respectively. Applicable to only employees who have their parents or in-laws alive.

Panel for Satra land encroachment:

Committee to ascertain total Satra land under encroachment. To be headed by MLA Pradip Hazarika, it will have MLAs Mrinal Saikia and Rupak Sarma as members

Youth Commission:

Youth Commission to be set up for training youth to pursue higher education and explore employment opportunities.

Bir Lachit’s birth anniversary:

Culture Dept to organise programmes, including national seminars, to commemorate 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan.

Gift for Bongaigaon:

• Bongaigaon College to be upgraded into a university in 3 years
• Work on Bongaigaon Medical College to begin in 5-6 months
• Rs.542 crore sanctioned for the medical college
• Rs.50 crore sanctioned for construction of Integrated DC Office
• Rs.25 crore grant-in-aid for construction of a stadium

Restructuring Education System: 

• School education structure to be changed from existing 10+2 to 5+3+3+4
• 5 years (pre-school) under Directorate of Elementary Education
• 3 years (classes III, IV & V) under Directorate of Elementary Education
• 3 years (classes VI, VII & VIII) under Directorate of Education
• 4 years (classes IX, X, XI & XII) under Directorate of Education
• The change to come into effect from 2023.

Amended rules for PG courses in Govt medical colleges: Eligibility for admission

• MBBS from medical colleges recognised by NMC/MCI
• Permanent resident of Assam
• Completion of rural posting of 1 year in Assam

Increase in quota:

Reservation for State Health Service Quota increased from 23 to 40, proportionate to increased PG seats.

Raising of penalty for surrender of allotted seats after last date of admission

• PG Degree – Rs10 Lakh
• PG Diploma – Rs.5 Lakh
• Earlier penalty – Rs.25,000

Amended rules for PG courses in Govt medical colleges:

Mandatory Service: Students, after clearing their exam, will get university certificate only after serving under Govt of Assam for one year.

Bond conditionality: 10 years of service after completion of PG or pay t25 lakh in lieu; also no post service benefits after resignation/VRS

Bond violation charge: PG Degree – Rs20 lakh & PG Diploma – Rs.15 lakh

Economically Weaker Section: EWS certificate to be allowed to be produced till First Counselling.

Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences: Two advance increments to post graduates (2-year diploma holders) of SSUHS in 5 disciplines — Clinical Anaesthesiology, Maternal Health, Radiology, Paediatric Medicine and Orthopaedic.

Relaxation in APSC exam:

To remove language barrier in Civil Services exams conducted by APSC, English and Assamese papers to be withdrawn subject to fulfilment of 3 conditions:

• Candidate must be resident of Assam
• Name registered in Employment Exchange in Assam
• Must be fluent in speaking Assamese or other recognised languages of Assam

Reduction of e-Procurement Threshold:

All procurement in Assam over & above Z25 lakh shall be through e-Procurement mode only.

Exemptions:

• “Emergency procurement” and “urgent works” as defined in the Assam Public Procurement Rules, 2020
• 10 statutory Autonomous Councils of Moran, Kamatapur, Bodo Kachari Welfare, Matak, Rabha Hasong, Mising, Tiwa, Deori, Thengal Kachari and Sonowal Kachari.

PMAY benefit in Govt land: 

• Benefits of Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) Housing for All (Urban) to be extended to occupiers of Govt lands for over 10 years, provided the persons in occupation of Govt. land are eligible for settlement and the land is found fit for settlement
• Provision of cut-off date for continuous occupation in Govt land in Guwahati and other towns in case of such eligible indigenous landless persons to be amended from 28th June, 2001 to 28th June, 2021

Proposed amendment to GMC Act, 1971:

• Govt to be empowered to increase the number of Wards through official gazette notification
• Formation of a Staff Selection Committee for speedy recruitment to vacant posts in Guwahati Municipal Corporation
• Introduction of new subjects like “acquisition of modern machinery” for drain cleaning, establishment, and maintenance of electric & gas-based cremation grounds.

DA/DR hike:

Enhancement of Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief 31% (28%+3%) to serving State Govt employees/ pensioners/ family pension holders/ extraordinary pension holders in the revised rates effective from 1 July 2021.

LIVE from DC office, Bongaigaon. https://t.co/wODhKlFwch

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) November 24, 2021

Levy on Excise:

Ad-valorem levy, which constitutes 95% of total Excise revenue, to be rationalised & restructured in order to increase the Excise revenue collection that will consequently boost annual VAT collection. The amendments will come into force from 10 December 2021

Food Security:

• Framing of Assam State Food Security Rules and constitution of Assam State Food Commission
• Establishment of State Food Commission to monitor and review implementation of NFSA, 2013

Welfare of Assam Agitation victims:

Trust to be set up under chairmanship of Chief Minister for welfare of victims of Assam Agitation and their families with a corpus of Rs.5 crore from Government of Assam.

Land compensation:

• Entitlement Matrix for eligibility, entitlement of compensation and assistance to persons affected due to improvement and upgrade of roads in Externally Aided Projects for secondary State roads
• Applicable for Externally Aided Projects to be implemented under Asom Mala

Land allotment:

• Barpeta Zila Mahila Samity — 2 katha 10 lessa in Barpeta town for construction of its office building
• Swami Vivekananda Kendriya Vidyalaya, Moran — 4 bigha VGR land in Tiloibari Nepali Gaon under Moran Revenue Circle
• Assam Cricket Association — 25 bigha at Satra Baradi village under Barpeta Revenue Circle for developing cricket infrastructure.

Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council:

Approval to Bill for amending Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council Act, 2005 to increase the number of elected members from 26 to 33

Police reforms:

• Creation of a Special Unit — Research & Analysis Cell (R&AC) —under Special Branch, Assam Police for special covert and overt operations
• Separate draft recruitment rules for Constables and Sub-inspectors for Commandos of Assam Commando Battalions

Heads of power utilities:

Each power utility — APGCL, AEGCL, APGCL — to have Independent Chairperson with an objective of attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Power sector in Assam.