Assam reserves 5% seats in engineering, medical colleges for students of govt schools
Guwahati: In what may be called an attempt to increase the enrolment in the government schools, the Assam cabinet on Saturday decided to reserve 5 percent of seats in engineering and medical colleges for students who pass out of state-run schools.
Making this announcement after a cabinet meeting in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district on Friday Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters,“Students who have studied from Class 8 to Class 12 at a stretch in a government school will be eligible for the reservation.”
The decision is said to have been aimed at increasing enrolment in schools run by the Assam government, many of which have been merged owing to lack of students or poor academic performance.
It is significant that Assam has more than 50 engineering colleges and 13 medical colleges, including an All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Changsari near Guwahati.
The chief minister also announced the creation of a new Corporate Social Responsibility Authority for increasing the CSR fund investment in the state. This authority would have an IAS officer as the chief executive officer.
To boost industrial growth in the state, the cabinet approved Rs 438.27 crore for three projects under the Industrial and Investment Policy of Assam, 2019, Mr Sarma said.
The three projects are a bamboo crash barrier manufacturing unit by Bhavya Shristi Udyog Pvt Ltd in Bongaigaon, a hotel by Tata Group in Kaziranga and a second Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati.
Mr Sarma said that these three projects will together create nearly 1,400 new jobs.
To simplify land-related issues, the cabinet decided to harmonise different types of land into five categories, the chief minister said.
"At present, there are about 100 nomenclature to categorise different types of lands. This leads to confusion among the people. Henceforth, all land will be placed under five categories," he said.
Mr Sarma also said that about 2.25 lakh people are expected to have their land-related issues settled by the end of 'Mission Basundhara 2.0', which will conclude at the end of this month.
The cabinet also approved the release of Rs 100 crore to Assam Tea Corporation Ltd against the budget provision in 2023-24 for payment of interest on delayed deposit of provident fund to Assam Tea Employees Provident Fund Organisation.
Among the other decisions taken were increasing the upper age limit for public prosecutors and additional public prosecutors by five years, and granting ration cards to retired fourth-grade government employees.
