The thrust of our Government, ever since we came to assume responsibility of the State, was on empowerment through health and education. With each passing day, I am glad to realise that we are well on course to achieve these objectives. The number of schools across the State, especially in tea garden areas, is increasing manifold. This is not only ensuring more enrolments but also limiting dropouts. I have been observing for long that in tea garden areas students had to walk and cycle for kilometers together, if not miles, to reach their schools. We could not conceive the basic idea that opening schools in these areas will work wonders for them. Not only primary but even higher secondary schools are being built thick and fast. I am not a great believer in statistics but if I am to state that from near zero, a few years back, today we are on course to have 200 schools inside tea gardens then the power of numbers will speak no matter what. This means students of tea garden workers will chart their own course and challenge status quo.
Moreover, in States like ours, the school is also a place for physical nourishment because of the mid-day meal scheme. In the last one year, we have seen a 10% growth in children having mid-day meals in schools across the State. This means more and more students are attending classes, and we have managed to arrest dropout rates. I know for sure that we have a long way to go on this score but this is a satisfactory achievement.
Not only primary but even higher secondary schools are being built thick and fast. I am not a great believer in statistics but if I am to state that from near zero, a few years back, today we are on course to have 200 schools inside tea gardens then the power of numbers will speak no matter what. This means students of tea garden workers will chart their own course and challenge status quo.
A development that will have wide ramification in the education scenario in the State as well as the country is the New Education Policy which has now come fully into effect in Assam beginning June 2023. I believe this comprehensive policy will change the way we perceive education and its goals. Having fulfilled over 95% of the requirements of the NEP 2020, Assam is one of the leading States in its implementation. My idea of Assam is one that is a rightful hub of education not only in the North East, but the entire country. For that to happen, we need our universities to be counted among the top 100 in the country on various parameters. This will only happen when there is a collective effort from universities and their constituent colleges, teachers and administrators.
The way schools are being built in tea garden areas, in the same way medical colleges are coming in the State. When I was a minister, Assam had only two medical colleges, today we have 12 & counting. It is not only medical colleges, but even hospitals with better infrastructure and advanced health care are coming up in the State. We have ensured that this phenomenon is not related to urban centres only, but that rural Assam is also prioritised. This is what I call the Amrit Kaal when people in rural areas need not look for alternatives beyond their own district except only in special circumstances. I appreciate that our State has revenue constraints yet that has not stopped us from reaching out to external agencies and private organisations for support. Just last week, the World Bank, impressed by our achievement in medical care, granted us a soft loan of over ₹ 2,000 crore to augment health care delivery system. Again, a piece of statistics will vindicate my claim. The World Bank states that in 2005 in Assam, only 24% of women gave birth in institutional care, the figure now stands at 87%. This means post-natal fatalities have come down rapidly, and expectant mothers and their family members have begun trusting the State’s medical infrastructure.
Besides, we have seen a 45% increase in OPD footfall in Government hospitals. This means we are on the right trajectory in terms of public healthcare. We are also offering cashless treatment to lakhs of households to enable them to take advantage of schemes like Mukhya Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana through their ration card, which again is being provided to them free of charge.
Last month, coinciding with the 9-year-of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s service to the nation, our Government announced three new schemes. In one of them, we intend to provide ₹ 2 lakh each to one lakh entrepreneurs of the State to help them become self-reliant, and, in turn, create opportunities for others. We must understand that the ecosystem of entrepreneurship depends on cooperation, and support. An entrepreneur cannot operate in isolation. So, only when there is a culture of entrepreneurship, the entire system partakes of the benefit. The role of any Government is to act as a facilitator, and this is what we have been trying to achieve since the last two years when people voted us to power in Dispur.
In the last week of June, I called a conference of DCs and SPs, besides other officials with a single point agenda to discuss ways and means to curb rising road accidents in the State. As Chief Minister of the State, one needs to be sensitive to these mishaps which potentially turns the life of loved one’s upside down. Taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, we aim to make road safety awareness a people’s movement, I want to ensure that we put in measures which allow us to reduce accidental deaths in the State.
