Guwahati, Oct 18: To support cultural and community celebrations, the Assam government will provide grants-in-aid of Rs 10,000 to a total of 6,953 puja pandals across the state, demonstrating its commitment to preserving cultural heritage and promoting community engagement.
During a cabinet briefing Cabinet Minister Jayanta Mallabariuah unveiled a series of transformative initiatives aimed at enhancing the lives of Assam’s residents, ranging from cultural preservation to education and welfare.
One of the key highlights is the plan to lay the foundation stones for 400 new school buildings, with 100 entirely new schools to be established in tea garden areas. Existing schools will receive ₹7 crore each for renovation. These foundation stones will be laid between December 25, 2023, and January 10, 2024. During this period, all Cabinet Ministers will stay for five days and nights in specific villages from different zones to evaluate the practical implementation of welfare schemes and the level of saturation achieved.
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Assam is working to provide land in favor of 123 indigenous, landless families, with 105 of these families in Charaideo and 18 in Darrang. This initiative is part of Mission Basundhara 2.0 and builds upon the government’s efforts to provide housing security to landless families, with more than 55,000 already receiving settlement offers.
The government has approved the holiday list for 2024 for state government employees, consisting of 36 gazetted holidays, 30 restricted holidays, and two half-holidays. District Collectors have the authority to declare one local holiday of significance, with the exception of Kamrup (Metro) District, where the General Administration Department can declare two local holidays.
To enhance the financial health of the Assam Financial Corporation (AFC), the outstanding loan amount of ₹54 crore and outstanding interest of ₹10.92 crore as of March 31, 2023, will be converted into equity capital. This aims to reduce the equity capital gap of the Corporation, enabling it to continue lending operations in various sectors like MSME, microfinance, tourism, healthcare, and manufacturing.
The government is introducing an opt-in and opt-out system for Non Practising Allowance (NPA) for doctors under the Health Department, effective from January 1, 2024, to encourage high-quality patient care without financial concerns.
The administrative units of the Irrigation Department will be reorganized in line with the delimitation of Legislative Assembly Constituencies, and a uniform retirement date of April 30th will be introduced for Anganwadi Workers and Helpers in mini Anganwadi Centers upon reaching 60 years of age.
