The Cabinet meeting on August 25 was a landmark in the political history of Assam. It was the 100th Cabinet meeting of our Government. The enthusiasm and participatory nature of the meeting reflect the ground reality in the State today. Of the 1,238 decisions endorsed by the Cabinet, 1217 have either been executed or are in the process of being implemented. It means a compliance rate of over 98%. I am sure this is a rarity across Bharat, irrespective of any Government in power. There is no magic formula for this success. One must be willing to think of the people and for the people while making a decision. Is the decision going to benefit my fellow Assamese? Is the decision going to benefit my State? These have been our guiding principles on which we take decisions in the Cabinet and implement. I am extremely pleased at our progress and wish to congratulate all my Cabinet colleagues for their unflinching support in achieving this feat. These meetings have been held across difficult and different terrains. All my Cabinet colleagues have taken the pain to traverse long distances with scant regard to their comfort. The progress that Assam is making today is also a tribute to the decisions that we have taken in these meetings and in implementing them swiftly. It is one thing to convene a Cabinet meeting and take a decision. It is another thing to get these decisions working on the ground. Decisions, if confined to the files, do no good, but once we follow up on them, they start producing the desired results. I am pleased to note that some of the departments have clocked 100% compliance rate of the Cabinet decisions. I know how other departments are itching to match them!
The idea of recreation of four districts announced in the last Cabinet meeting along with the creation of 81 sub-districts is part of the administrative reform which we have been talking about in the State. These reforms are based on the feedback that we received from the ground and on our personal experiences when we visit the nook and cranny of the State. In doing so, we feel that we will be able to serve our people in a more effective way while ensuring that it is the masses who are at the centre of our policies. To meet manpower requirements to cater to people’s expectations in these subdistricts, which will become the fulcrum of people-centric government, and fill up vacancies in the State, we have decided to recruit over 22,000 people in the coming months. With the growth in our economy, we are committed to filling every vacant post in the Government so that we do not fall behind in serving our people.
Among one of the first decisions of our Cabinet as early as May 2021 was to increase the stake of the Government of Assam in the public sector undertaking Numaligarh Refinery Limited to 26% by investing ₹ 2,187 cr. Money was scarce to come by then but we were resolute. Now that NRL has registered a net profit of ₹ 3,701 crore this fiscal, that collective decision has started to bear fruit, and give us impressive financial returns. Decisions like these, in turn, have helped us to think of people-friendly policies like massive investment in roads and infrastructure. It is such a vision that has helped us tame inflation compared to other States in the country. Whereas most people elsewhere have been hit hard by rising prices, people in Assam have, to a large extent, been shielded from this menace. I want to assure the people of Assam that a pro-people vision will continue to be the hallmark of our Government.
The semiconductor policy, which we approved in the last Cabinet, is keeping in tune with the changing times. With so much of talent at our disposal, and a wonderful ecosystem in place, we feel that it is time Assam had its policy to attract high value and specialised production skills that the semiconductor industry is about. I feel semiconductors are the next big thing in the country, and globally. We feel this will accord an opportunity to our talents in the technology sector, who are working outside the State, to return to their roots. This is merely an extension of the plan that we have for the State’s industrial growth. An investment summit in 2024 is also being planned. It will see major players committing themselves to Assam in letter and spirit.
I have also noted with satisfaction the response to our tree economy initiative called Amrit Brikshya Andolan. Come September 17, each one of us will be a proud partner in achieving a feat which shall have ramifications for future generations. It is not in the numbers that we are interested in, it is in the impact that we will create through this selfless act for humanity. Let me reiterate, this is just the beginning. We will continue to give greater wings to our ambition of planting tens of crores of trees to save Mother Earth from global warming.
