CM announces ₹1.5 lakh crore infrastructure boost to make Assam developed by 2047

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday announced a combined investment of ₹1.5 lakh crore by the state and Centre over the next few years to develop infrastructure and transform Assam into a developed state by 2047.

Keeping in line with the Centre’s aim of making India a developed nation by 2047, the CM, in his Independence Day speech at Khanapara in Guwahati, announced a ₹50,000 crore project by the state government to boost basic infrastructure and facilities in rural and urban areas and transform Assam into a developed state by the same year.

“We have also decided to seek ₹1 lakh crore from Centre in the next five years to develop our infrastructure. That amount added with the pledge of ₹50,000 by the state government would mean a total sum of ₹1.5 lakh crores for the state’s development,” he said.

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Sarma announced the creation of eight more co-districts in the state, in addition to the 49 such administrative blocks formed earlier. They are Khumtai, Kamalpur, Barhampur, Ronganodi, Sisiborgaon, Chabua-Lahowal, Katigorah and Borkhola. The state government had earlier announced the formation of 78 co-districts in all for administrative convenience.

Giving details of the government’s campaign against child marriages, the CM stated that between 2021 and 2026, a total of 12,196 cases have been registered and 93 persons arrested. He stated that a fresh month-long drive against the malaise would begin on November 1.

Sarma stated that to prevent polygamy, the government would deduct 20% of the salary of state employees found abandoning their first wives without divorce and living with another woman. The deducted amount would be transferred to the accounts of the first wife, he said.

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“I pledge to the state’s sisters and mothers, that our government won’t rest till social evils like child marriages and polygamy are rooted out,” said the CM.

An allotment of ₹100 crore to Cotton University, which completed 125 years this year, ₹1 lakh each to 10,000 progressive farmers over the next five years, and the formation of a new department called youth empowerment and development, with the aim of providing them with modern job skills, were some of the major announcements made in the speech.

“In order to protect the lands of our indigenous people we will restrict buying and selling of land in 40 revenue circles of the state to those who have resided in Assam continuously for at least three generations (around 75 years),” he said.

Commenting on the devastating floods in the state, which have claimed 104 lives and uprooted several thousand people, Sarma stated that money won’t be a constraint in providing permanent rehabilitation to those affected. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Centre’s help and lauded the efforts of personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in rescuing many, as well as NGOs, groups and individuals who supported the relief efforts.

“In these difficult times, I assure the flood-affected people of Sibsagar, Charaideo, Golaghat and Jorhat districts that we won’t compromise on ensuring rehabilitation of all,” he said.

In view of the ongoing census exercise, the CM appealed to those who have come from other states and settled for generations to list their mother tongue as Assamese during the enumeration process.

“Those from Barak Valley (where Bengali is the dominant language) and people from our indigenous communities and tribes will list their own mother-tongues. But apart from them, I appeal to those who have come from Rajasthan and other places and made Assam their home to list Assamese as their mother tongue,” said Sarma.