Thirty-year-old Santosh Kumar Singh has been battling cancer for the past two years. Unable to cope with the financial strain, his father, Dilip Singh, was forced to sell their house. “My son’s illness devastated us. I spent all my savings and even sold our house to pay for his treatment,” Dilip shared.
In light of their difficult situation, a well-wisher suggested that Dilip approach the Chief Minister for assistance. However, as the family was financially strained, traveling to Guwahati for this purpose was not feasible. “With the opening of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Dibrugarh, we visited the office and sought help. Thankfully, we were able to submit our documents online and received the Ayushman card without needing to travel to Guwahati,” Dilip told Asom Barta.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Dilip now hopes that his son’s upcoming operation, the fourth one, scheduled for March or April, will be less burdensome, financially, thanks to the Ayushman card.
Many like Dilip are precisely the ones for whom the new CM Secretariat has turned into a boon, something to which the Assam Chief Minister had referred to while declaring his vision for it.
Inaugurating the building, the Chief Minister had said, “This Secretariat symbolizes our efforts to bring governance closer to the people. For decades, due to legacy issues, there has been an opinion that people living away from the Capital have missed out on developmental opportunities. Since the last three years we have been focusing on establishing districts as the fulcrum of governance. We have empowered district and sub-district machinery to make most decisions.”
Dr. Sarma during the inauguration of the new building added that with the opening of the secretariat, nine districts surrounding Dibrugarh will have proximity to top level decision making, “Personally, I will be spending four days a month in this office. Over the coming months, you will see faster decision making and quicker implementation of projects due to these efforts,” the Chief Minister had added.
It is worth mentioning that on December 23, a meeting of the Assam Cabinet meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Dibrugarh.
The case of daily wage worker Deepjyoti Dutta is no different. He told this newsletter how the new Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Dibrugarh has significantly reduced his travel costs. “My wife, Archana Dutta, has been suffering from a kidney ailment for many years. Due to financial constraints, I could never afford to travel to Guwahati even to submit an application to the Chief Minister. But with the new Secretariat here in Dibrugarh, I was able to submit my request for financial assistance in October. I must have saved anywhere between ₹3,000–4,000. I can now visit the office for an update as well.”
Dutta who has completed all formalities is now patiently awaiting approval for financial relief which will aid his wife’s treatment.
The new CM Secretariat has opened a new horizon,” said Rajen Gogoi, secretary of the Jhanjhi Valley Co-operative Society. “For people in Upper Assam, traveling to Guwahati for any matter used to be extremely difficult. It meant long stays and significant expenses. If the new office functions the way it is meant to, it will be a huge relief for the people of Upper Assam.”
“For people in Upper Assam, traveling to Guwahati for any matter used to be extremely difficult. It meant long stays and significant expenses. If the new office functions the way it is meant to, it will be a huge relief for the people of Upper Assam.” – Rajen Gogoi (Secretary of the Jhanjhi
Valley Co-operative Society)
