Several key decisions taken in Assam Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday

way2barak, Aug. 31: In the weekly Assam Cabinet on August 30, several key decisions related to repeal of over 300 obsolete Acts, countering encroachment in Bhoodan & Gramdan land, upgrading ITIs & polytechnics, holding Chintan Shivir, special CL for Govt employees, appointing Nayanmoni Saikia as DySP, etc., among others were taken. The Cabinet Meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. 

KEY DECISIONS: 

Special CL for Matri Pitri Vandana:

• State Govt employees to get Special Casual Leave on 9, 10 & 11 February 2023 followed by a holiday on 12 February (Sunday)
• The employees can spend the time with their living parents/ parents-in-law

Nayanmoni Saikia to be appointed DySP:

• Smt Nayanmoni Saikia, gold medalist in Lawn Bowls (Team Event) at recently-held Birmingham Commonwealth Games, to be appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police in Assam Police under provisions of Integrated Sports Policy of Assam, 2017-18 (as amended)
• This is to encourage the youth to pursue sports as a career and recognise her achievement

Fillip to Technical Education:

• Govt Polytechnic Institutes and ITIs to be upgraded as Centres of Excellence
• Construction of workshops & tech labs to be taken up at 39 ITIs in 27 districts and 22 Polytechnic Institutes in 19 districts for T307.22 cr
• To provide opportunities to 20,000 students every year to learn new technologies and prepare them to meet the demands of Industry 4.0

Repealing Obsolete Acts:

27 obsolete Acts to be repealed through tabling of Assam Repealing Bill, 2022 in next Assembly session scheduled from 12 September 2022

Acts to be Repealed: 

• Agriculture Dept: Assam Agricultural Pests and Diseases Act 1950, Assam Agriculturist Loans (Extension to United Khasi, Jaintia Hills District) Act 1963, Assam Dadans Act 1944, Assam Debt. Conciliation Act 1936
• Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Dept: Assam Cattle Diseases Act 1948
• Health and Family Welfare Dept: Bengal Vaccination Act 1880, Assam Drugs (Control) Act 1950, Assam Kala-Azar Treatment Act 1949, Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act 2004
• Housing & Urban Affairs Dept: Assam Apartments (Construction and Transfer of Ownership) Act 2006, Assam Development Authorities Act 1964, Assam Municipal (Validation of Election) Act 1957, Assam Non-Agricultural Urban Areas Tenancy Act 1955, Assam Urban Immovable Property Tax Act 1969, Guwahati Non-Bio-Degradable Garbage (Control and Prevention) Act 2006
• Environment and Forest Dept: Assam National Parks Act 1968, Assam Rhinoceros Preservation Act 1954 ❖ Excise Dept: Assam Excise (Extension to Mizo) District Act 1961
• Fisheries Dept: Assam Private Fisheries Protection Act 1935
• Industries, Commerce & Public Enterprise Dept: Assam Cement Control Act 1953, Assam Handicraft Artisan Welfare Fund Act 1998, Assam State Industrial Relief Undertakings (Special Provision) Act 1984 ❖ Finance Dept: Assam Industries (Sales Tax Concessions) Act 1986
• IPR Dept: Assam Press and Registration of Books (Extension to Lusai Hills) Act 1954
• Labour Welfare Dept: Assam Shramik Bahini Act 1959
• Soil Conservation Dept: Sylhet Jhum Regulation 1891

Bhoodan & Gramdan Land – Countering Encroachment: 

Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 to be amended to counter unabated encroachment on over an estimated 10,897 bigha Bhoodan & Gramdan land

Amendment to involve:

• Vesting lands under the control of Assam State Bhoodan Gramdan Board to the Government
• Providing rights to the grantees
• Repealing Assam Gramdan Act, 1961 and Assam Bhoodan Act, 1965

Amendment to enable:

• Optimum/ judicious use of Bhoodan lands post conversion to Govt land
• Facilitate regularisation of Bhoodan/ Gramdan lands by aggregating into existing land banks
• Settlement of indigenous occupants on Bhoodan/ Gramdan lands as per the ALRR, 1886 (Settlement Rules) and Land Policy, 2019
• Allow Govt. as custodian of Bhoodan/ Gramdan land, to take punitive/ legal measures in case of unabated encroachment/land grabbing/ illegal transfer etc.

Chintan Shivir – Brainstorming Development:

• Chintan Shivir to be held on 24-26 September 2022 under chairmanship of Hon’ble CM and to be participated by Cabinet Ministers, senior-most Secretaries of around 57 departments
• It will deliberate on various pending issues and chalk out a future plan for tackling the issues

Repealing Obsolete Acts:

• Approval to Assam Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2022 to repeal 289 obsolete Appropriation Acts
• This has been done as Appropriation Acts have become redundant after expiry of their validity period
• To streamline functioning of the Govt, Assam Contingency Funds Act (Repeal) Bill 2022 approved to repea113 obsolete Assam Contingency Fund (Augmentation of Corpus) Acts enacted during 1953-2019

SLAC: Empowering Youth:

❖ State Level Advisory Committee (SLAC) for Students and Youth Welfare, Assam to be converted into a registered society to provide proper functional framework & structure to SLAC