Assam govt employees to serve in 'difficult' areas

Guwahati, July 13 (IANS) The Assam cabinet has decided that government employee in Assam irrespective of his or her class of service, must work in "difficult" (Durgam) areas of the state at least for a period of three to five years in their whole service period.

After the decision was taken at a meeting on Wednesday evening, state Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told reporters: “The state cabinet has approved a scheme 'Durgam to Sugam'. This scheme is meant for the development of areas that have difficult terrains in the state. The government employees will be posted for a period ranging from three to five years in those years.”

The state government believes that this will help the upliftment of those areas, according to Pegu.

In accordance with the Prime Minister's Poshan initiative, the state Cabinet resolved on Wednesday to offer three eggs to each child in a week during mid-day meals at schools in tea garden areas.

This will have a positive impact on increasing the attendance and retention of children in schools and decreasing the dropout rate in tea garden areas," he claimed.

The cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, also decided to expand the existing 15 per cent to 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Minorities and Other Backward Castes (MOBCs) in higher education institutions.

According to state Health Minister Keshab Mahanta, the council of ministers also decided to adopt the Assam Road Network Master Plan (RNMP), 2023 for long-term connectivity requirements.

The roads in the state will also be classified and notified as state highways and major district roads.

The RNMP is designed to meet future travel demands over a 20-year period by prioritising 18,421 km of roads for the construction of a higher order road network, which consists of 5,120 km of state highways, 8,638 km of major district roads, and 4,673 km of national highway.

For periods of five years, 10 years, and 20years, the roads will be phased into priority 1, priority 2, and priority 3 lists.