Guwahati: The Assam government will confer the Chief Minister’s Agriculture Excellence Award on 1,000 progressive and educated farmers this year, with each recipient receiving Rs 1 lakh, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Monday, August 17.
Sarma said the initiative is aimed at encouraging educated young people to pursue agriculture and promoting modern, productive and sustainable farming practices across the state.
During a live interaction, the Chief Minister said the selected farmers would also be connected with various government schemes and programmes related to agriculture. The government plans to recognise 10,000 farmers under the initiative over the next five years.
The programme will focus on improving agricultural practices, supporting research and helping farmers increase productivity while becoming more economically self-reliant.Sarma also announced plans to establish a separate Youth Welfare Department to bring various youth-focused programmes under one administrative framework.
The proposed department will include the National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), employment exchanges and youth-related initiatives currently handled by the education sector.
The department is expected to be launched around September 17, which coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. The government said the move would help coordinate schemes and programmes aimed at young people more effectively.
The Chief Minister also announced a proposed mechanism to provide financial assistance to women whose government employee husbands abandon them without obtaining a legal divorce.
Under the proposed arrangement, 20% of the employee’s salary would be deducted and transferred to the first wife’s bank account if she approaches the government for assistance and the employee has entered into another marriage without legally ending the first one.
Sarma said departmental proceedings and strict action would also be initiated against government employees found guilty of violating rules on marriage and polygamy.
He cited an earlier government measure under which 10% of the salary of employees who abandoned their parents was transferred to their parents, describing the scheme as successful.
The Assam government will also launch Project Sadbhavana 2 from October 2 to January 31 to identify and dispose of pending government files, Sarma said.
According to the Chief Minister, more than three lakh files are currently pending across government departments, directorates and Deputy Commissioner offices. While some relate to routine administrative matters, the exercise will seek to clear the backlog systematically.
A dedicated portal will allow citizens to flag files that have remained pending. Such cases will then be forwarded to the appropriate district administration or directorate for action.
Sarma said the government had conducted a similar drive in 2021, when records were maintained manually. With the e-file system now in place, authorities will be able to monitor pending cases and analyse disposal rates more efficiently.
Officials have been assigned specific responsibilities for the exercise, and the government will review the number of files cleared once Project Sadbhavana 2 concludes.