Assam ministers to spend five days in villages in Dec-Jan to assess implementation of welfare schemes

Guwahati, Oct 17 (PTI) All Assam ministers will spend five days in one village each towards the end of the year to assess the practical implementation of various welfare schemes, a cabinet meeting decided on Tuesday.
    They will also lay foundation for 400 new school buildings including 100 in the tea garden areas during the stay. For renovation of old schools, Rs 7 crore will be allocated per institution, the cabinet decided.
    The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, resolved that all ministers will stay at a particular village for five days and five nights between December 25 and January 10.
    The villages will be chosen from five different zones, the CM wrote on 'X'.
    The cabinet also approved settlement of land for 123 indigenous and landless families for homestead purposes in urban areas under Mission Basundhara 2.0.     The offer of settlements have already been issued to more than 55,000 landless families, as per decisions of the cabinet shared by Sarma.
    The cabinet okayed creation of a new cadre of prosecution service by framing the Assam State Prosecution Service Rules, 2023, to increase conviction rates. Those appointed will be regular government servants.
    In another decision, the cabinet approved the revised cost for the 24-MW Karbi Langpi Middle-II Hydro Power Project at Rs 417.32 crore.

    Besides helping reduce power demand-supply gap, the project will also generate employment opportunities for 150 people during construction and 44 during operation phase.
    To strengthen its financial health, it was decided that an outstanding loan amount of Rs 54 crore and interest of Rs 10.92 crore of the Assam Financial Corporation (AFC) as on March 31, 2023 will be converted into equity capital of the corporation.
    To effectively utilise Hindustan Paper Corporation’s resources, it was decided that an investment of Rs 758.75 crore made by the state government under grants-in-aids towards acquisition of assets and payment of relief package will be converted to an equity investment by the government in Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).

    Limit of authorized share capital of AIDC will be enhanced from existing Rs 150 crore to Rs 1,000 crore to accommodate the proposed investment of the state government.

    The cabinet also decided that the opt-in/opt-out options of non-practising allowance (NPA) will be provided to doctors under the health department once every five years from January next.

    This is to ensure that doctors provide good care to patients without having to worry about the financial implications of not being able to practice privately.

    The cabinet also approved reorganising of administrative units of the irrigation department in line with the delimitation of legislative assembly constituencies by the Election Commission.
    The date of relinquishment of services for all anganwadi workers and helpers in mini anganwadi centres will be April 30 or just after completion of 60 years of age, according to a cabinet decision.
    The cabinet also decided to provide Rs 10,000 each as grants-in-aid to 6,953 puja pandals.
    The holiday list of 2024 for state government employees was approved, with 36 gazetted, 30 restricted and two half holidays.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)