Assam Cabinet takes key decisions

The state Cabinet took a slew of decisions on college teacher appointments, setting up a youth commission, handicraft policy, sadbhavana mission etc. The Cabinet approved the setting up of a State Youth Commission to see the employment of local youths in the private sector. It will delve deep into why indigenous youth of the state do not get jobs in the private sector. It will tie-up with the next generation NRIs for studying the prospects of foreign investment in the state. It will counsel the local youths on ways and means to crack engineering and medical entrance examinations.

The Cabinet today cleared the appointment of 743 assistant professors in colleges. It also decided to fill up 233 grade III and 524 grade IV vacancies. The Cabinet decided to prepare the handicraft policy of the state. The government will provide capital subsidies of up to 30 per cent to the eligible units under this policy. The Cabinet decided to introduce EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) in the next municipal board and municipal corporation elections in place of secret ballots.

The works of the Sadbhavana Mission will start on February 1, 2022. The State Secretariat will dispose of all the old pending files under this project. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will address two daylong workshops on clearing old files — one with Secretariat staff on January 17 and the other with IAS and ACS officers on January 25. The government aims at disposing of all the pending files by May 10 this year.

The State government converted its Rs 56-crore loan to Assam Petrochemicals Ltd (APL) as an equity share. The Cabinet also prepared a detailed roadmap for hassle-free paddy procurement. The Cabinet decided that the government would give away the Assam Gaurav, Assam Saurav and the Assam Bhaivabh awards on January 24, 2022.