An anniversary is a day to celebrate, introspect, ruminate, and pledge for a fresh departure. Leaving the past behind and setting goals for subsequent years. Our Government, too, celebrated its second anniversary last month knowing full well that the targets that we have set are well on their way to be fulfilled; that there are challenges ahead; and that strategies needed to achieve them have to be framed at the bottom and not the top and the fact that we are committed to achieve them no matter what.
In the last week of May, Honourable Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present during the symbolic distribution of appointment letters to 44,703 individuals who will be joining Grade III and IV posts of the State Government this month. Not only are the numbers there impressive, but the satisfaction of seeing thousands of smiling and relieved faces across the State is a different feeling. A Government that is committed to eradicate corruption, ensure free, fair, and transparent recruitment process is what we have been able to deliver. Yes, I know and admit that it is always a work in progress, and that we cannot afford to sit on our laurels. Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi took time out to address these individuals was indeed an honour for the people of the State irrespective of ideologies. Now that we have achieved meaningful employment to over 86,000 individuals, I am sure we will soon be able to reach the figure of one lakh Government jobs which we had pledged to the people of Assam prior to the elections. But this does not mean that we will stop at 1 lakh. We are already looking at advertising over 20,000 jobs in the coming few weeks. This means we will be crossing the one lakh figure as well. I am sure that those who now know that their Government is committed to them will, in turn, commit themselves to the service of the State and its people with fairness and integrity. If this can be achieved, then our heart-felt desire to create Government jobs will be vindicated.
All these do not mean that we have taken the entire burden of securing gainful employment to our youth on us. What in the recent past we have managed to achieve is to create a conducive atmosphere where private sector investment in industry and services can flow smoothly into the State. Coinciding with the date of our anniversary, industries ranging from cement to fast moving consumer goods signed MoUs with our Government to commit an investment of over ₹ 8,000 cr. At no point in time do I want to sound that this is a huge figure. But the fact that a process has been set in motion to build an ecosystem around private investment and that it has been endorsed by investors is a big achievement for the State. It is another matter that over a short period, over 6,000 people will be employed in these industries. The State is enjoying an agitation free era, which has been welcomed by all and sundry. The invisible hand of the market emits few signs which observers pick up. This is the achievement of the people of Assam.
Besides creating a conducive environment for private players in the State, we are single minded in working towards effective governance and ensuring last mile delivery of public services. My address to respective district commissioners in their conference in Tinsukia was geared towards it. We had already made it clear that we wanted the districts to become the fulcrum of growth and better governance. Accordingly, we have decided to experiment with changes whose success will make them a permanent feature. Each district commissioner will now be eased from less-meaningful work to focus on more productive ones that require their attention. A DC will now act like a chief secretary of the district to be aided by guardian secretaries and ministers. By vesting more powers to DCs, we want to ensure that districts grow uniformly, and that geographical, topographical, and historical biases can be minimised. Once we achieve that, this vision will become a successful model for the whole country. I have always felt that we need to start measuring GDP at the district level. This will make the districts act as economic units acting as growth engines for the entire State and thereby the country.
This month, we were also able to give due recognition to two of Assam’s most illustrious figures in Sankardev and Madhabdev. By instituting a chair in the name of Sankardev in Jawaharlal Nehru University, one of the best universities in India, we have taken a major stride to let scholars and people around the world know about the role that these cultural reformer and saint had played in the composite lives of the people. While most of his Bhakti movement contemporaries had focused on religion as a reformation tool, Sankardev had chosen the path of culture to bring about reformation way back in the 15th and 16th century. Similarly, through a Kalakshetra in the name of his disciple Madhabdev in Narayanpur, a historical Vaishnavite town, we have taken the pledge to honour Sankardev’s most important disciple. To those who are not versed with the Assamese people and their ways, social and cultural life sans these two reformers is impossible to imagine.
