Guwahati: The Assam Cabinet on Tuesday approved a series of key decisions, including granting Other Backward Class (OBC) status to 37 tea tribe communities in the state.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said these communities were earlier classified as sub-castes but will now be recognised independently under the OBC category. The Social Welfare Department will soon issue a notification formalising the decision, he added.
The Cabinet also decided to extend the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme to street vendors operating in census towns across the state. At present, the scheme is available only to vendors in municipal areas.
In another decision, the Cabinet approved renaming Dr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College in Barpeta as Barpeta Medical College, stating that most medical colleges in the state are named after their geographical locations. The Chief Minister said another institution would be named appropriately in honour of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the former President of India from Assam.
The Cabinet also approved the extension of the South East Guwahati Water Supply Project to uncovered areas such as Noonmati at an estimated cost of Rs 1,367 crore. The project will be implemented by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
Additionally, the Cabinet decided to declare a government holiday on the occasion of Ali Aye Ligang and approved the allotment of 10 bighas of land in Sonapur for the establishment of Zubeen Kshetra under the Cultural Affairs Department.
In another move, the government decided to initiate the process of granting land pattas to families residing in the hill areas of Guwahati. In the first phase, 816 families from Dispur, Guwahati and Azara will receive land pattas. Sarma said third-generation Assamese families would be eligible, and around 12,000 applications have already been submitted.
The Cabinet also approved the allocation of 112 bighas of land for the Goalpara industrial estate. Besides this, six private investment proposals worth Rs 24,800 crore and two proposals by Assam Gas Company Private Limited worth Rs 110 crore were cleared.